Madagascar’s Barea are living the dream in Egypt after they booked a quarter-final spot courtesy a 4-2 penalty shoot-out victory over two times African champions DR Congo.
Coming fresh off their victory over Nigeria – the biggest upset yet in the competition – the Indian Ocean nation saw to the elimination of the Leopards.
Once again the Alexandria Stadium was the theatre of dreams for the nation ranked 180th in the world, at the inception of this competition, but they have shown very little to suggest they’re minnows.
Twice Madagascar took the lead, in the 9th minute through Ibrahim Amada with what was a goal of the competition contender. The next came through their 35 year-old captain Faneva Ima Andriatsima in the 77th minute.
But, twice they also let it slip as Cedric Bakambu leveled for DR Congo 12 minutes after going behind the first time and Chancel Mbemba scored on the death to restore parity with the game almost lost.
With the scoreline tied 2-2 after 120 minutes, the teams proceeded to decide the winner via shoot-outs.
At the end of the eight kicks, Madagascar were the last team standing and by implication have reached the last eight of the tournament in only their first attempt.
#ALEFABAREA have not lost a single AFCON game – and are also the first team to remain unbeaten in their first 4⃣ games since Libya in 1982 ⚽️#TotalAFCON2019 pic.twitter.com/BsrrWynRCY
— CAF (@CAF_Online) July 7, 2019
They next face another massive test as they await the winner of the round of 16 tie between Ghana and Tunisia.
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