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The Elephants saw off defending champion Senegal in a penalty shootout to reach the last eight, but despite that shock win, they have effectively limped to thi stage of the tournament, having lost two of their past three matches, scoring only three goals in four games so far.

But while Fae has preached humility to his players, he did allow himself to suggest they could yet go all the way on home soil.

“We’re definitely not going to get excited,” Fae said. “We have come so far. We are going to continue to work on our solidity.

“We need to keep this state of mind which will give us the strength to perhaps go for the title.”

While it will have home support on its side, Cote d'Ivoire is the second favourite against a Mali side that has never lost at the quarter-final stage, having got this far on five previous occasions.

But despite that proud record, Mali has never lifted the trophy. Inspired by Lassine Sinayoko, who is bidding to become the first Malian to score four goals in a single edition of AFCON since Freddy Kanoute in 2004, it could well have a chance this year.

“We need to be humble and continue with hard work,” Mali coach Eric Chelle said.

“I am very happy for the players. We know that it will be difficult against (Ivory Coast), but we will bring our quality and give it our best against them. I want to emphasize the importance of humility in this victory.”