Madagascar has taken a giant leap in African football by earning the right to play in Egypt. This will be their first ever AFCON competition after placing second in the Group A qualification standings.

Barea made huge efforts in the past and the citizens of Madagascar will be proud to see the team battle it out on the biggest stage in African football.

Overview

Barea amassed 10 points in their qualification group to book a place in the 33^rd edition of the AFCON. The journey has not been smooth however with a lot of disappointments coming in the past.

Madagascar declined the invitation to enter from 1957 to 1970, a decision which had a lasting effect on the nation in the subsequent years. They participated in qualification in 1972 and 1974 with all ending in disappointments.

They went through another round of failure in qualifying for eight more years starting from 1980. The same story surfaced in their 1992 qualification. Barea has not been without controversy, being on the end of a ban after withdrawing during the qualifiers for the 1996 AFCON tournament.

Madagascar were back after the 1998 tournament to attempt once again to book a place in an AFCON tournament. They had to wait until 16^th October, 2018 to realize this dream. They beat Equitorial Guinea by a lone goal to send their fans into ecstasy.

62 years have gone by since the first AFCON tournament was played in Sudan and Madagascar will now get the chance to showcase their talent for all Africans to witness. Madagascar is currently ranked 25^th among the countries in Africa and 108^th in the FIFA rankings.

Nicolas Dupuis will be the man to lead them from the bench after helping them secure qualification. The former French full-back spent most of his early years as a coach with AS Yzeure (1996-2011), a team he played for in the early 1980s. Nicholas had a second spell with the club from 2012 to 2017.

He was appointed manager of Madagascar in March 2017. He currently combines his role as head coach of Madagascar with the technical director position for FC Fleury. Nicholas’ main concern for this tournament will be the lack of experience of his side in a major competition of this magnitude, a concern he shares as well as this will be his first taste of the competition.

Most of the squad has not played enough games in the national team as well and that will be a huge concern. Only 7 out of the current 23 man squad have had 10 caps or more for Barea and that is a cause for worry.

How they qualified

Madagascar earned 10 points from 6 games to book a place in Egypt, six lower than group winners Senegal. They kicked things off with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Sudan but lost by the same score line in the return fixture. Barea only grabbed a point from Senegal in two meetings (2-2 and 0-2) and beat Equatorial Guinea 1-0 in both fixtures.

Who’s in their group?

Barea are placed in Group B with Nigeria, Burundi and Guinea.

How have they fared against those teams in the past?

Madagascar are yet to beat Guinea in any match. The record currently stands at 1 loss and 1 draw. They have also had little success against Nigeria in the past, losing 3 and drawing 1. Madagascar will face Burundi for the very first time in Egypt.

Star player

Faneva Andriatsima will be called upon to get the goals for Barea. Faneva played a major role in qualification, scoring thrice. He is currently their record top scorer (12) and will look to add more goals and cement his place even further in the history of Madagascar.

Player to watch

Marco Ilaimaharitra is a player to cast an eye on. The 23 year old was previously a youth international of France and made his debut for Barea in November 2017. Marco plays well as a shield to the defense of Sporting Charleroi and will likely do same for Madagascar in Egypt.

Did you know?

Both men and women wear the same clothing in Madagascar, the lamba. There are lambas for marriages, lambas for work, lambas for elders, lambas for children and even the dead are wrapped in a special kind of lamba before burial.

The lemur is a sacred animal in Madagascar, deeply revered and worshipped by the Malagasy people. They believe that lemurs carry souls to their ancestors.

How far will they go?

The lack of experience in the AFCON may prove costly to this side and finding a way past Nigeria and Guinea may be too big of a task for them.

Profile by: Bill Eshun

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