Parts of Mali's northern regions were liberated before the country's national football team were due to contest their African Nations Cup (ANC) qualifier against South Africa. That means that for the first time in the tournament, fans could watch their side compete.

Even though they may have had more pressing issues on their mind, football is a great leveller and at least some of them would have had the box on. What they saw would have lightened their hearts and put smiles on their faces, if only for a few moments. In perfectly scripted style it was the talisman, Seydou Keita who scored the equalizer to force the match to penalties.

Without first-choice goalkeeper Mamadou Samassa who was suspended for this encounter, Mali had to rely on Soumaila Diakite. The 13cm height difference between them may make Samassa the favourite to keep goals out, but coach Patrice Cateron hinted that he may have picked Diakite anyway. "Soumaila is a very good goalkeeper and he's undefeated at penalties, so South Africa must win before the penalty shootout," he said before the match.

He was proved right when the 1.84m tall man saved two penalties, from Dean Furman and May Mahlangu, to play an integral part in Mali's victory. The team have now reached their fourth semi-final in seven editions of the competition, displaying remarkable consistency especially considering the recent years of strife in their homeland.

Their next match will be a marquee one, whether they play the Ivory Coast or Nigeria. All three teams are considered heavyweights on the continent and it will ensure a big name is in the final no matter what.

For now, Mali can celebrate. "This victory means a lot to everyone in Mali," Keita said. "This is an emotional moment for me and this team. We did our job today as we were expected to do, we fought hard."

Although Bafana Bafana's Dean Furman said it was "heartbreaking," to lose on penalties, South Africans were not too disheartened with the way their team exited. The hosts displayed remarkable fighting spirit and initiative when they took the lead, through a striker no less, and held on for the shootout. Many expected them to be intimidated by the physical stature of the Malian players but they were not.

"We lost with pride, dignity and passion," Gordon Igesund, South Africa's coach said. "We have proven that we can match anybody. We played a team that is ranked third in Africa and we matched them and dominated them."

Their performance at the tournament will surely keep Igesund in his job. Although he was initially told his mandate was to take the team to the semi-finals, that was then downgraded. Igeusnd has achieved a level of togetherness that was absent under other coaches and built a unit that has the potential to serve South Africa well over the next few years.

Their next target is the 2014 World Cup and there is a renewed sense of belief as they look ahead to that. South Africa are third in their group, which is headed by Ethiopia and will need to win in Addis Ababa and Bangui against the Central African Republic to put themselves in a position to go to Brazil.

Similarly, Cape Verde will be targeting the event. They are last in their pool but the big performances they put in at AFCON will have done wonders for their confidence and they will believe in their ability to beat Equatorial Guinea and Sierra Leone, at least. Their coach, Lucio Antunes, called them the "best team in the competition" and, even though they don't have an ANC trophy to prove it, their resilience and skill makes that statement less of an exaggeration than it may seem.

Ghana's coach Kwesi Appiah had praise for the islanders. "I knew they were going to be hard to beat and that's exactly what happened. They were probably the better team in the second half too but in tournament football all that matters is that you win and we did that in the end," he said.

The scoreline flattered Ghana who did not dominate proceedings although they had more possession. They have plenty to work on, especially in terms of creating chances. Asamoah Gyan acknowledged that the team "needs to do better" if they hope to earn a first continental title in 31 years. Ghana will play the winner of the match between Burkina Faso and Togo which means the semi-finals and final of the competition are all West African affairs.

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