Madagascar head coach Nicolas Dupuis is confident his side can beat one of the AFCON 2019 title favourites, Nigeria, in Sunday’s Group B encounter at the Alexandria Stadium, reports Completesports.com.
The Barea who are appearing in their first Africa Cup of Nations finals are on the brink of securing a place in the knockout out stages after picking up four points from their first two games in the competition.
Dupuis’ men were held to a 2-2 draw by the Syli Nationale of Guinea in their first game and secured a narrow 1-0 win against Burundi on Thursday.
The debutants head into the game against the Super Eagles as the underdogs, but Dupuis is upbeat his team can create a big upset by snatching the maximum points at stake in the encounter.
“We hope to win against Super Eagles tomorrow (Sunday). A point will be enough for us to progress, but three points are better than one,” Dupuis told a news conference on Saturday.
“I am proud of what we have achieved in our very first AFCON but we face Nigeria, and we expect a very tough game. We have to try and recover because there is some tiredness in the squad.
“We have our strateg we hope to deploy tomorrow. Maybe we won’t see much of the ball, but we have a plan about what to do when we get it. We have a plan, and we hope to do well tomorrow.
Sunday’s encounter at the Alexandria Stadium will start at 5pm Nigerian time. The Syli Nationale of Guinea and the Swallows of Burundi will also clash at the same time, at All Salam Stadium Cairo.
By Adeboye Amosu
22 Comments
You don buy market let’s see how it goes. We will unleash onyekuru,chukwueze and others warming the bench on your team tomorrow. You may have drew Guinea and won disappointing Burundi but you will find the fringe players more deadly than the regulars. Congratulations for getting this far I must commend your bold step.
Ndubuisi, you don’t need to call them bench warmers. That expression is an insult on those players. I believe you meant well but there are better ways of saying that.
Thanks for that correction never mearnt to insult or be little them. I was actually saying our 2nd 11 will do a good job on them. Wait ooo if a particular player is benched for a match he has warmed the bench na. With our rotational method any of our players can warm a bench on a particular match. On a serious note all our players whether starters or not are all in form. Thanks for the mature way you corrected the write up, well appreciated rather than insulting and abusing me. One love bro
Haha serious market for that matter well, I hope your team can withstand our players on the bench cos, they are as good as the first 11. He already knows his team won’t see much of the ball.
Based on what he said I think he is planing to play a defensive football and hit us on the break. So Mr Rohr take note. I guess 4231 formation would be ideal
my starting xi for tomorrow is…
Ezenwa
Awaziam Ekong Balogun Aina
John Ogu John Mikel Obi
Samuel Kalu Alex Iwobi Henry Onyekuru
Victor Osimhen
I would recommend Samuel Chukwueze and Armed Musa as Super sub
You wan kill person be that because those two speedy beast will tear a tired defense apart.
Ahhh, bra coach, u got it wrong. You don’t have to brag before playing Nigeria. Ask Mr Put and others what happened to them after they bragged to beat us. Bcos u won Burundi and u thought u could beat us, just imagine? Anyway, na tomorrow for field we go reply you not here. Would like to read your comments after the match. So, continue day dreaming.
The Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, once said – “Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back”.
That is what Coach Dupuis is doing – smiling back. When you face opposition that is superior to you, you have to put on a brave face. And you have to believe in yourself. We know exactly how he feels. We have been there before. We have been underdogs before. When we had to play Brazil in the Atlanta Olympics semifinal. When we had to play Spain at the 1998 world cup. When we had to play Ivory Coast in the Afcon 2013 quarter final. And other examples too numerous to mention. If we could be giant killers, we the giant in this encounter, can also be killed, if we are not careful! Nigeria are the favorites in this match. But we must proceed with caution.
Nigeria will win tomorrow by God grace by a wide margin
We know your team is not a pushover Mr coach, but I don’t see your team getting any point tomorrow against Nigeria,Rohr can use tomorrow’s game to assess some players fitness level
Just saw the Benin vs Guinea-Bissau game. Utter rubbish. Professional footballers that can’t pick a pass, or trap the ball, or shoot at goal? Are you kidding me? Throughout the game, there was no sequence of passes. The ball was always presented to the opponent eventually, or overhit out of the pitch. It was as if the players were playing with blindfolds. They had no idea where the goal is, or how to get there. Just an awful experience watching that match. I sincerely hope FIFA officials did not see the game. If they did, they would have a case for reducing Africa’s participation in the world cup. From the current number of five countries to perhaps three or even two! Incredible that countries like Libya and Zambia did not make it, when we have these two. To their credit, they did perform better against bigger opposition. Guinea Bissau played better against Cameroun, though they lost 2 nil. And Benin actually gave Ghana a scare, almost beating them. But today, they brought out the worst in each other. Visionless. Clueless. Hapless. No skill. No ball control. Awful passing. Even the SAMBISA ELEVEN would have had more to offer today than these sorry bunch. Benin and Guinea Bissau should come out in their next game determined to show that they are worthy of their place in this competition. Today’s sorry performance needs to be banished from memory.
You really watched that match and I kept wondering why this lesser teams will raise their games against bigger opposition and when they meet supposedly their equals they will not play way. I have keenly watched all matches, some replay but I have observed that almost all lesser teams except Mauritania played well in their first matches against bigger oppositions but did not maintain that level in their second matches. Let’s start from Nigeria vs Burundi, those guys really scared us with their tactical play and if not our basket keeper Akpeyi according to them(smile) they would have scored first, may be we would have lost or drew that match but surprisingly the same Burundi that were so good against Nigeria did not show up against Madagascar. Tunisia vs Angola. It was an interesting one as Tunisia labored all evening to break down Angola and it ended in score draw. I expected Angola to build on that game when they played a poor Mauritania that lost to Mali 4-1 but behold they could not do it when it mattered most and dropped two precious point. Morocco vs Namibia. Namibia held their own against morocco and lost with a late own goal and the believe is that they will play better against a poor south Africa team that played badly against Cote’voire, they lost that match without really threatening south Africa. Ghana vs Benin. Benin gave Ghana hell all night and with little luck they would have won in the last minute. I was disappointed they couldn’t raise their game against Guinea Bissua it was a drab match similar to Angola Vs Mauritania. I was disappointed as I rooted for them to win to increase blood pressure of boastful Ghanian. As usual the big boys will dominate last 16 except only Madagascar who will be there as the surprise team of the tournament. Expect many of this weak teams to be beaten more convincingly in their last matches. Madagascar should play with caution to avoid heavy defeat today. If we are to play our regulars it would have been better but unleashing our key players yet to play in this tournament is a bad news to them. Those guys want to prove to all that they are equally good if not better than our starters.
For me, my thinking is different. Having good players or good team is definitely different to having good strategy.
I’m not saying Madagascar will win but if coach Rohr’s team underrate Madagascar, they are going to regret it.
Tactically, we are not there. Good squad yes 100% excluding the goalkeepers. We saw that in our last match when the coach sub Iwobi for Chukwueze. Zero tactical plan.
Telling Nigerians the truth is hard and I won’t hesitate to tell you all that, enjoy yourselves now before the knockout stages. Truth is hurt. Truth is bitter and at the same time is free. Why can’t you feel free to say it? Ire o. God bless Nigeria!!!
@ Omo9ja. Which truth are you telling Nigerian about Rohr and the Super Eaglea? It has become so obvious that yours is a case of hatred against Mr. Rohr. Wetin this man do you? You have never said anything good about Mr. Rohr and the Eagles, yet MR.ROHR and the Eagle have delivered what matters most in both matches they have played already:winning matches. I really expect you to apply for Mr. Rohrs’s present job when his contract expires. Your own too much abeg.
Omo9ja greetings I have personal decided to ignore your comments when I discovered that you are not in touch with realities and you deliberately controversial so that people will recognise you exit only for you to go one corner of your house read comments and laugh. You are a joke. You and your likes cannot pull the team down or influence anything than normal ranting and noise making. You are waiting for the team to fail you will now have reason to laugh and mock us that support the great work Mr Rohr is doing. Your prayer will not be answered
*personally
Beat eagles and get 100000 from me.
Oga Dubuis, abeg shift. Wait for ur time. Pay ur dues first. We are had been there before now. But we have paid our dues. Pay urs first.
He will fail
That was exactly what the Guinea coach said
I THINK OMONIJA IS GOING TOO FAR AND HE NEEDS TO DISCARD THIS NEGATIVE ENERGY HE IS SURROUNDED WITH.YOU DONT ONLY WIN COMPETITION BECAUSE YOU HAVE BEST LEGS OR WELL PREPARED OR WITHOUT WEAKNESS. SEEING ONLY THE WEAKNESS OF THIS TEAM IS BIASED. I REMEMBERED IN MY SCHOOL DAYS IN UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN I WAS THE LEAST IN MY SET YET TODAY AM THE MOST FAVORED IN TERM OF EVERYTHING. EVEN BIBLE SAYS THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT BUT THE MERCY OF GOD. AM NOT AN ANTAGONIST OF HARD WORK . I REALLY DONT LIKE THE IDEA OF ALWAYS SAYING BAD THINGS ABOUT NIGERIA. WE WON 2013 CUP WITH SEVERAL OBVIOUS WEAKNESSES..I DONT HAVE ANY ISSUE WITH YOU AS YOU ARE ENTITLE TO YOUR OPINION
Master, all wise one, forgive the new member for he knows not what he does.
Verily verily I say unto thee, upon the rock of this forum is the foundation laid by the vision and ideals of the all knowing omo9ja who continues to shape the direction of debates with purpose and direction from the heavenly places.
We are incredibly lucky that we are living through the existence of omo9ja in our lifetime.
Ayphilly and Dr Drey will sooner or later come to accept the errors of their ways.
In due time, they will dedicated themselves to immortal omo9ja to direct them in all matters relating to Nigeria football.
This is self confidence. “We can beat SE”. and they did.
MEDIOCRITY can not be hidden for too long.
Rhor is a mediocre journeyman.
When INEC finally find their sarver, we will discover that Rhor, Pinnick etc are all APC faithfuls.
Next level Mr. Rhor?