Guinea, Madagascar face-off in Group B on Saturday
Guinea’s Syli Nationalle take on debutants Madagascar in their Group B opening match under the Alexandria Stadium floodlights on Saturday.
The Guineans are seeking a first ever Africa Cup of Nations title and coming up against a Madagascar side making their debut, they will look to claim most of the advantage. Guinea have progressed out of the group stage in four of their last five appearances at the AFCON.
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Coached by the charismatic Paul Put who helped Burkina Faso to a historic final in 2013, the West Africans are keen to ensure passage into the knockout phases especially with the path to the final made tougher with the increase of teams from 16 to 24. Put will be managing his third AFCON.
Guinea have been at the Cup of Nations 12 times and are yet to win the crown. Only Senegal (15) has been at more AFCON tournaments without winning it.
They open up their campaign against a Madagascar side that overcame tough opposition to qualify for the first time in their history and Put has urged his side to take the match with utmost seriousness and not underrate their opponents.
Coached by Frenchman Nicolas Dupuis, Madagascar are looking to follow in the footsteps of Cape Verde who rank as the only side to have ever gone past the group stages in their debut at the tournament. They will look on the prowess of their goal scoring prodigy Charles Andriamatsinoro to guide them through the murky waters of Group B.
Guinea on their side will lay their foundation on Liverpool’s Naby Keita who has however not played a competitive match since picking up an injury for his club playing against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League.
But, Keita will be motivated by the fact that his country will peg their hopes on him and his experience.
In their build-up matches, Guinea lost 3-1 to Egypt while Madagascar lost 1-0 to Kenya in a friendly game played at the Stade Robert Bobin in Paris, France.
What they said;
Madagascar Coach Nicolas Dupuis on his team’s first ever AFCON appearance:
I am very happy to be here today. There are a lot of teams in the continent who are very good but we are here today. We want to show everyone that we are a great team and we will surprise you.
We have no pressure at all, we just want to come and do our best. It is a great experience for me and the rest of the players. We are all excited but we will not let the emotions kill our game.
On the group and his team’s possibility to advance to the knockout phases;
It is a good, tough group. We have analyzed all the teams and the individuals and we know it is not going to be easy. Guinea and Nigeria of course have experience and will be the better teams so us and Burundi might be fighting for tat number three slot.
But we also have our strengths and we will try to play the best we can. We want to concentrate on playing our game and adapting to what the opposition brings at us.
Our first match, we play against Guinea which is a very strong team. I spent three hours watching them yesterday and we picked out some very good things about them
Madagascar captain Faneva Andriatsima on what their ambitions are in their first ever AFCON;
First we are pleased to be here and we have come to write history in football. We will try to do the best for us and our country. We have no pressure because we have nothing to lose. We have great emotions being here but we will try to contain them.
For us is just to go a day at a time and give our best.
On whether the heat in Alexandria will have an effect on the players;
I absolutely don’t think so. We have prepared in Paris, then Marrakech and we also came here early so we are used to it now. It is not a big thing. We will play in the same heat and our opponents too. It should not be an excuse.
As players we are ready to play in the conditions that are there and we are okay with it.
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