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Cairo. Prior to the coup of sending the Africa Cup of Nations to Egypt last month, Madagascar was best known for family names that make language turn, such as Anicet Andrianantenaina and Charles Andriamahitsinoro.
Twenty years after the start of the biennial tournament, the islanders of the Indian Ocean have knocked out Nigeria, triple champion, and are preparing to face Tunisia Thursday in the last quarter-final.
While coach born in France, Nicolas Dupuis, insists that "the team is the star," midfielder Andrianantenaina and striker Andriamahitsinoro drew attention.
Andrianantenaina, based in Bulgaria, was among the 11 footballers selected by a panel of the African Football Confederation (CAF) as the best of the group stage of 36 matches.
Andriamahitsinoro, who plays for a Saudi club, has been ranked in the dream team of the substitute group. His two goals have put him in the running for the Gold Shoe award.
"The coach is right to say that the team is the star and that sometimes a person stands out when we need it. It's our strength," said Andriamahitsinoro.
He stands out in the field with his blonde-dyed hair and his size in a team of footballers mostly of medium size.
Tunisian coach Alain Giresse said his first goal of an eighth place had been achieved, adding, "We are able to lift the trophy 15 years after doing it for the first time".
AFP Sport will look at the last eight games of Thursday against Algeria against Ivory Coast against former champions, before Madagascar meets Tunisia, winner in 2004.
The countries met only twice in competition. Tunisia won 1-0 at home and 2-0 away in qualifying for the 2002 World Cup.
Since then, Tunisia has organized and won a Nations Cup when Madagascar had become so weak that the Democratic Republic of Congo went to Antananarivo three years ago and won a 6-1 qualifier match.
But if Tunisia, unimpressed, has reached the quarter-finals with four consecutive draws – a shootout victory against Ghana has been officially described as a draw – Madagascar has blossomed.
In addition to winning 2-0 over Nigeria, the African powers defeated their Burundian counterparts and forced Guinea and the DRC to play football.
If Madagascar eliminates a much more experienced Tunisia, she will become the first rookie of the Nations Cup since South Africa in 1996 to qualify for the semi-finals.
This showdown extends one of the biggest rivalries of the tournament with the Ivorian Elephants who won three and the Algerian Desert Foxes two of the seven previous editions.
At their last meeting, in the quarter-finals in 2015, Cote d 'Ivoire triumphed 3-1 with Serey Die among the winners, while Riyad Mahrez was among the losers.
Midfielders, who play opposite roles with Die, mainly a destroyer, and Mahrez, a creator, lead the teams to Suez four years later.
Algerian coach Djamel Belmadi believes his team, the only survivor with a record 100% in Egypt, can go all the way to saying "it does not cost anything to be ambitious".
Rival team coach Ibrahim Kamara does not say much during the Nations Cup, while star strikers such as Nicolas Pepe, Jonathan Kodjia and Wilfried Zaha have not yet shone. .
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