The Malagasy national team proceeded since yesterday to a twice daily training on the synthetic ground annexed to Mahamasina. The coach only has four days left to finish everything.
The preparation is going well. Four days before the match, the Barea have been training twice a day since yesterday for the match against the Black Stars of Ghana. This match counting for the fifth day of qualifying for the 2023 African Cup of Nations will take place on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Barea stadium in Mahamasina. The national team is in full force from this Wednesday. The last wave, made up of the last two expatriates, arrived yesterday. JS St Pierroise defender Alexandre Fabien Boyer landed in the afternoon and RE Virton striker Hakim Abdallah Djamel in the night. Twenty-six of the twenty-eight shortlisted followed yesterday’s two training sessions on the Mahamasina annex field. Confident, coach Romuald Félix Rakotondrabe, known as Rôrô, reiterated “the objective is to win the victory, or at worst a draw (…) It will be an opportunity to erase the series of defeats that we have suffered lately and to temporize a little disappointment after not qualifying for CAN 2023”. The challenge is to win and avoid finishing last in the group, which will be synonymous with returning to square one and going through the preliminary rounds for the next CAN.
Rigueur
“The last five days of preparation are devoted to specific work, to the consolidation of technical-tactics and game strategy… Not to mention the fitness session for some players who have already been on vacation for some time” confides the coach. Rôrô said he was impressed by the cohesion of the players, “I hope that this cohesion and this solidarity will be at the top on the day of the match” he added. The atmosphere has already been noted on the training ground as well as in the bus which transports the group. “Discipline will not be outdone. From now on the telephone during the three meals is prohibited. It’s the moment and the opportunity to talk to each other, like a small family. And this discipline will be more and more severe the day before the match”, underlines Rôrô Rakotondrabe. The twenty-eight pre-selected will all be present in training from this Wednesday, for the home stretch of preparation.