The Elephants reached the last four after a remarkable escape in Saturday's quarter-final, when they beat the Eagles of Mali 2-1 thanks to Oumar Diakite's goal in the dying minutes of extra time.
The hosts had been reduced to 10 men in the first half when Odilon Kossounou was sent off, and were heading out, trailing 1-0, when substitute Simon Adingra leveled in the 90th minute to force the extra half-hour.
Ivory Coast's Simon Adingra celebrates scoring a goal against Mali in the quarterfinals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, Stade de la Paix, Bouake, Ivory Coast, February 3, 2024.
Before that, Ivory Coast came from behind against the reigning champions, Senegal’s Lions of Teranga in the last 16. The hosts eliminated the pre-tournament favorites on penalties.
The Elephants scraped out of the group stages of AFCON as the last of the four best third-placed teams.
Speaking to reporters in Abidjan on Tuesday, Fae said, "we are aware that we have made a spectacular recovery,” adding, “when you look at the Mali game we survived miraculously."
"We will garner strength from that and tell ourselves that our mindset is good. It is that mindset which allows us to pull off miracles like that, but we are not going to relax and say that because we won miraculously it means it is our destiny that we are going to win the trophy,” the Ivorian coach said.
"The miracle against Mali did not fall out of the sky, it did not just happen like that, it happened because the players kept on fighting and believing until the end," Fae added.
Fae took over as Ivory Coast’s coach following the sacking of Jean-Louis Gasset in the wake of the 4-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea in their final group game, the team's heaviest ever home loss.
FILE — Former Ivory Coast coach Jean-Louis Gasset gestures during the African Cup of Nations Group match against Equatorial Guinea at the Olympic Stadium of Ebimpe in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, January 22, 2024.
The semifinals clash against DRC will be Ivory Coast's first at the Ebimpe Olympic Stadium since that humiliating reverse on January 22.
From the brink of a group-stage exit, the Elephants stand one game away from a first AFCON final since they last won the trophy in 2015.
"It would be a lie to say we have nothing to lose but we have come a long way," said Fae as he dismissed fears his team could crumble under the pressure.
"We have put in so much effort to lift our heads back above water so we are not going to give up now because of the pressure of not getting to the final," he added.
Ivory Coast are without Diakite, suspended after he was sent off while celebrating his winning goal against Mali. Serge Aurier, Christian Kouame and Odilon Kossounou are also banned.
"It is always a loss when you lose a player but the rest of the squad will fight, grit their teeth, do their job and try to take the team through to the final," Fae said.