Mali head coach Tom Saintfiet expressed immense pride in his players after they edged Tunisia on penalties to reach the AFCON 2025 quarter-finals, following a gripping 1–1 draw over 120 minutes in Casablanca.
Reduced to ten men in the first half, Mali fought back from the brink to keep their tournament alive.
“I am proud of the goalkeeper and of all the players. Before the match, I told them that they are champions,” Saintfiet said, praising the mentality that allowed his side to survive both the red card to Wayo Coulibaly and Firat Chaouat’s late opener.
He felt that with eleven players Mali “might have had even more advantages”, but highlighted how his team stayed calm and adapted intelligently after the dismissal.
Saintfiet underlined that the team had prepared meticulously for Tunisia and that the players “knew exactly what they were doing” throughout the contest.
Looking ahead to a quarter-final showdown with Senegal, he accepted that “Senegal will be the favourites, just as Morocco and Tunisia were in our previous matches”, but insisted Mali’s objective is clear: to stay in the competition and keep believing like champions.
