Mali scrape through

Guinea had taken an early lead in the 15th minute through Pascal Feindouno courtesy a pass from veteran forward, Titi Camara and the midfielder calmly struck the ball low into the back of Sidibe's net from near the penalty spot.

The goal put Mali behind for the first time in the tournament and the well-taken goal stemmed from an error in the Eagles' defence by Souleymane Diamoutene.

It was a ding dong affair from there on, as both sides adopted offensive play.

Mali rallied back to level scores on the stroke of half time when Tottenham Hotspurs star, Frederic Kanoute notched his fourth goal of the tournament as he chips the ball over Guinea keeper Camara near  the edge of the box, with the striker capitalising on a defensive blunder by Schumann Bah on his way to goal.

Guinea dominated the second half but for poor finishing, the Syli stars should have wrapped the game up in the 70th minute.

Titi Camara and Souleymane Youla fluffed countless chances to the fury of French coach, Michel Dussuyer.

Mali stunned the brave stars in the 90th minute. Mahamadou Diarra's strike was heartbreaking for Guinea keeper Kemoko Camara, who allowed the curling shot to squirm under his body.

The West African side will wait on the winner of Sunday’s second quarter final game between Algeria and Morocco, to know their semi final opponent.

How they played:

Mali: 1-Mahamadou Sidibe, 2-Souleymane Diamoutene, 3-Fousseiny Diawara, 4-Adama Coulibaly, 17-Sammy Traore, 6-Mahamadou Diarra (captain), 8-Bassala Toure, 10-Soumaila Coulibaly, 11-Djibril Sidibe, 19-Frederic Kanoute, 20-Dramane Toure

Guinea: 16-Kemoko Camara; 5-Bobo Balde, 6-Schumann Bah, 8-Kanfory Sylla, 11-Souleymane Youla, 2-Pascal Feindouno, 3-Abdoul Salam Sow, 7-Fode Mansare, 14-Ousmane Ngom Camara, 10-Aboubacar Titi Camara, 17-Soumah Morlaye (captain).

Referee: Essam Abdel Fatah (Egypt)