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Mali players had to be kept away from referee Mohamed Adel following their dramatic 2-1 defeat to Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations.
Members of the Mali squad surrounded referee Adel after he blew the final whistle directly after Mali had won a corner in the final minutes of extra time.
Defender Hamari Traore, who plays for Real Sociedad, was shown a straight red card for shoving the Egyptian referee. Members of the Malian coaching staff were forced to step in and usher their players away.
Ivory Coast booked their place in the semi-final of the competition after a 122nd-minute winner from Oumar Diakite.
The host nation — who only qualified from the group stage as one of the best third-placed teams — went behind on 71 minutes after Nene Dorgeles’s goal before Brighton & Hove Albion’s Simon Adingra equalised in the 90th minute.
Diakite’s goal in the second half of extra time set up a semi-final against DR Congo at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe on Wednesday.
Cape Verde take on South Africa in the fourth and final quarter-final this evening and the winner of that game will take on Nigeria in the other semi-final next week.
(Getty Images)
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