Madjid Bougherra has hailed Algeria's continuous improvement at the CAF Africa Cup of Nations after they ousted favourites Côte d'Ivoire late last night to qualify for the semi-finals.

The north African side had stumbled through the first phase of the competition in Angola with a solitary 1-0 win over Mali in the second gave proving key to their progress. It came after they were hammered 3-0 by Malawi in the tournament opener and then drew 0-0 with the hosts to seal their passage on the controversial head-to-head rule.

Some people have criticised us but this victory is for all of Algeria. The people of Algeria must enjoy it.
Madjid Bougherra

That meant Mali had to make an early exit despite finishing above the Desert Hawks on goal calculation, but Bougherra preferred to focus on the positives, saying the 3-2 extra-time win over the Elephants was the perfect answer to their critics.

The Rangers defender said: "Game after game we are getting better. Some people have criticised us but this victory is for all of Algeria. The people of Algeria must enjoy it. Some people now should not speak about us."

Coach Rabah Saadane was equally buoyed by the win, which came after an action-packed encounter saw his side twice fall behind before Hameur Bouazza's winner two minutes into extra-time. He said: "I had a lot of criticism after losing the opening game, but we are here now and we have qualified for the semi-final.

"I wasn't surprised by my team, but more by Ivory Coast's decline. The critics said after we beat Mali (1-0) that we only scored goals from dead ball situations, well here we scored three goals from open play. We must now be focused. That's all that matters."