Mali, Senegal reach semis

AGAINST all odds, Mali and Senegal are through to the semi-finals of the 2015 FIFA Under-20 World Cup after they both sailed through their respective quarter-final matches.

Mali conquered favourites, Germany while Senegal beat Uzbekistan to book their way to Wednesday’s semi-finals.
Mali continue to defy the odds at the FIFA U-20 World Cup after they booked their place in semi-finals with a 4-3 win on penalties over Germany following a well-fought 1-1 draw in Christchurch.

Julian Brandt's opener had put the tournament favourites ahead, though a Djigui Diarra penalty save and Souleymane Coulibaly header levelled things up, leaving the sides level for an hour. Niklas Stark then fired the crucial spot-kick wide and sent Fanyeri Diarra's send into dreamland.

The outstanding moment of the opening passages of play was a disappointing one for the match, as Germany's top scorer Marc Stendera was forced off the field, and without him the tournament's most prolific side struggled to find their rhythm.

Senegal booked their place in the FIFA U-20 World Cup semi-finals with a 1-0 win over Uzbekistan in Wellington.

After Mali's victory over Germany earlier in the day, Mamadou Thiam's strike was enough to see Africa occupy half of the tournament's final four spots for the first time in a decade after they came out on top in a tight encounter against the Central Asians.

Having conquered Germany, Mali are confident of scaling the Serbia hurdle but Senegal have an arduous task coming up against Brazil.