Madagascar’s achievement of beating the Democratic Republic of Congo on penalties to reach the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals in their first appearance at the tournament has delighted the country’s people.
“We have a good chance of beating Tunisia because Tunisia has also played for 120 mins in their last game, so they may be tired. But when you observe how they have been playing overall, I think it’s possible to beat them,” said one fan, Tahina Razafimandimby.
“They (Malagasy team have played well so far, so they now need to push in the second half, because they appeared weak in the second half in their last match, although they played well in the first half. We want them to go up till the end and bring back the Cup,” said another supporter, Patrick Eddy.
On Sunday night, Malagasy fans took the streets to celebrate the team’s advance to the quarter-finals at the Africa Cup of Nations honking horns, waving flags and cheering.
Madagascar’s team, called the “Barea” after the island’s wild Zebu cattle, beat Nigeria to finish first in their group and after Sunday’s upset of DR Congo, they face Tunisia in the last eight on Thursday.
“My prediction is that the score will be 2-1 in favour of the Barea. I have to say that I had feared that Ghana would win but when Tunisia won, I said that we’ll go to the semi-final,” Akim Mahavita, owner of a clothes shop in the capital, told Reuters as he sold the team’s jerseys.
