Mbeza Bedi (second left) is congratulated by teammates after scoring the only goal of the game against Pachuca in Abu Dhabi

African champions TP Mazembe are through to the semi-finals of the Fifa Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi.

The DR Congo side beat Pachuca of Mexico 1-0 in their quarter-final on Friday.

They will now go forward to meet the South American champions Internacional of Brazil in the semis on Tuesday.

Mbeza Bedi got the only goal of the game in the 21st minute, firing home first time from a precision pass from Mulota Kabangu.

Pachuca had plenty of chances but were unable to break through a strong Mazembe defence, who were aided by wayward finishing from the Mexicans.

Franco Arizala and Alejandro Manso both had good chances and Francisco Torres had a goal ruled out for offside.

Given Singuluma and Bedi both had further chances to extend Mazembe's lead but were unable to score and the Congolese team had to play out a nervous final nine minutes after Stoppila Sunzu was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Mazembe's performance in reaching the semi-finals is a huge improvement on their outing last year, in which they were beaten in their opening game.

This is only the third time in seven attempts that an African team has made the last four of the Club World Cup, after Al Ahly of Egypt in 2006 and Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia in 2007.