Zimbabwean football was lifted out of the doldrums with a hard-fought victory over this year's Nations Cup semi-finalists.

The Warriors' fortunes had slumped to an all-time low in April with a 2-0 home defeat to Swaziland in a Cosafa Cup quarter-final.

A crowd of 50,000 fans, the largest for an international home match in over two years, watched the match at Harare's National Sports Stadium.

The goal came in the 33rd minute when locally-based player Lazarus Muhoni slotted in a Peter Ndlovu cross from close range.

Mali had the better of the second half, but star midfielder Seydou Keita had a poor game and was substituted after 70 minutes.

Conditions

The game was the first competitive assignment for both coaches, Sunday Marimo of Zimbabwe and Christian Dalger of Mali.