CHAN: Madagascar must beat CAR ‘if we want to continue’ – Rakotondrabe

Madagascar head coach Romuald Rakotondrabe has made it clear that for them to continue their journey in TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN), they have to beat Central African Republic (CAR) at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium on Wednesday.

They are currently sitting fourth in the five team Group B with one point from two matches, while CAF are lying bottom without a point, nine less than leaders Tanzania, who have already qualified for the knockout stages.

“Naturally, we did not get the best result in our last match against Tanzania, but we managed to restore the fighting spirit needed to win the next match. The last game was tough, and the loss was difficult to digest. We tried to raise the players’ morale to play well against the Central African Republic,” said Rakotondrabe as quoted by CAFOnline.com.

“Yes, our morale urges us to give everything we have to achieve a positive result. It will not be easy — I know that — especially as we are almost in the same position in the table. I think we must win if we want to continue in the competition. This concerns both us and our opponents.”

He concluded” “We have played two matches so far and scored just one goal. Winning requires efficiency in attack, which we have been missing. We created many chances but did not convert them. This is our weakness and we must score. Our morale is good, and we are working seriously to reach our goal. We have learned a lot from the last two games and will make some adjustments.”

Madagascar have their own ambitions, determined to bounce back from defeat and rekindle their dream in the tournament co-hosted by Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda.