The longest journey to this, the most extended, inclusive Africa Cup of Nations begins on islands.
They have long been the marginal onlookers of the continent’s football, and to look at the footnotes of the 2019 tournament is to be reminded. When the draw for qualifying was arranged, eight unlucky nations, the worst ranked in Africa, were ordered into play-offs for the right even to enter the group stage; four were offshore minnows.
Among them, tiny Sao Tome e Principe, of the Atlantic, and the Comoros and Mauritius of the Indian Ocean. Plus the big land mass with the minuscule football pedigree that is Madagascar.
The Malagasies got the long haul trip, a two-legged tie with Sao Tome, and the away leg hardly evoked confidence that this qualifying campaign would break Madagascar’s run of never having reached an Afcon finals. They won 1-0 thanks only to an own goal; in the return they cut it fine, too, edging to 3-2 after a scare in the last 10 minutes.
That was in early 2017, when a win over an archipelago with a population less than one hundredth the size of theirs (Sao Tome: less than 200,000; Madagascar: more than 22 million) was still cause for celebration and Madagascar were still lingering outside the top 100 of the Fifa rankings.
Fast forward to Cairo on Thursday, and there is a scarcely credible scenario: Madagascar’s footballers stand 90 minutes from a Cup of Nations semi-final, in this their first voyage to the tournament’s finals. They must beat Tunisia, five times at World Cups, to get there.
The first thing Tunisia - who have drawn all their matches so far and edged past Ghana on penalties in the last 16 - will know is that they should not bank on another shootout to impose their hierarchy on the so-called minnows. Four cool, immaculate Malagasy spot-kicks broke the nerves of DR Congo on Sunday to swing a quarter-final where Congo had twice come back, in the 90th minutes, from behind.
Little, it seems, can ruffle these intrepid islanders, whose wins over Burundi and Nigeria - a stunning 2-0 against the Super Eagles - put them top of their group. The 2019 Afcon had found in this squad of polysyllabic surnames its underdog heroes.
Players like Carolus Andriamatsinoro, the striker with the dyed-blond hair and clever darting runs; the speedy winger, Lalaina Nomenjanahary; and Faneva Andriatsima, the 35-year-old captain, whose goal against the Congolese edged the islanders closer to their improbable quarter-final and whose deep appreciation of the vividly joyous reactions at home is clear.
“The most important thing about this is to bring happiness to the people in Madagascar,” he said.
Andriatsima, who plays for Clermont, in the second tier of French club football, has served the national team for 14 years, which gives him a clear perspective on how far Madagascar’s so-called Zebus - a type of cattle, hence the mimicking of horns to celebrate goals - have come.
Significantly, he also gave his blessing to the idea that the Federation should become more proactive in seeking out Madagascan-heritage players abroad, mainly in France, to strengthen the pool of resources. Club football on the island is cash-starved and, in terms of pan-African competitions, weak.
So a number of players born and raised as French citizens will be in the XI who take on Tunisia, including perhaps the whole back four, if veteran defender Jeremy Morel, of Lyon, is fit to line up alongside the Stade de Reims centre-half Thomas Fontaine.
That pair are recent call-ups, players with Madagascan parents who were persuaded to lend their Ligue 1 experience to the cause.
A French coach, Nicolas Dupuis, has been in charge since 2016. Just before he signed up, he watched, via his computer in France, a dispiriting 6-1 home defeat of Madagascar by DR Congo in the qualifiers for the 2017 Cup of Nations.
Much has changed since then.
The Congolese players who lost, via shootout, to Madagascar in Alexandria, noted how few of the personnel they recognised from that thrashing, and evidently, how far standards had risen.
Dupuis, who combines this job with managing FC Fleury in the fourth tier of French football, believes they can rise still further. He knows his team have been careless at times, and sometimes ridden their luck. He was critical of the quarter-final display.
“We didn’t play our best but I can see a team giving everything of ourselves,” he said, “and with a huge desire to go on further. They want to make the people of Madagascar happy.
"They know it’s gone crazy with celebrations back at home.”
From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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UFC Fight Night 2
1am – Early prelims
2am – Prelims
4am-7am – Main card
7:30am-9am – press cons
Tori Amos
Native Invader
Decca
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
TUESDAY'S ORDER OF PLAY
Centre Court
Starting at 2pm:
Elina Svitolina (UKR) [3] v Jennifer Brady (USA)
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) v Belinda Bencic (SUI [4]
Not before 7pm:
Sofia Kenin (USA) [5] v Elena Rybakina (KAZ)
Maria Sakkari (GRE) v Aryna Sabalenka (BLR) [7]
Court One
Starting at midday:
Karolina Muchova (CZE) v Katerina Siniakova (CZE)
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) v Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR)
Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) v Dayana Yastermska (UKR)
Petra Martic (CRO) [8] v Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE)
Sorana Cirstea (ROU) v Anett Kontaveit (EST)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
The results of the first round are as follows:
Qais Saied (Independent): 18.4 per cent
Nabil Karoui (Qalb Tounes): 15.58 per cent
Abdelfattah Mourou (Ennahdha party): 12.88 per cent
Abdelkarim Zbidi (two-time defence minister backed by Nidaa Tounes party): 10.7 per cent
Youssef Chahed (former prime minister, leader of Long Live Tunisia): 7.3 per cent
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Results
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStage%207%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E1.%20Adam%20Yates%20(GBR)%20UAE%20Team%20Emirates%20%E2%80%93%203hrs%2029min%2042ses%3Cbr%3E2.%20Remco%20Evenepoel%20(BEL)%20Soudal%20Quick-Step%20%E2%80%93%2010sec%3Cbr%3E3.%20Geoffrey%20Bouchard%20(FRA)%20AG2R%20Citroen%20Team%20%E2%80%93%2042sec%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EGeneral%20Classification%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3E1.%20Remco%20Evenepoel%20(BEL)%20Soudal%20Quick-Step%3Cbr%3E2.%20Lucas%20Plapp%20(AUS)%20Ineos%20Grenaders%20%E2%80%93%2059se%3Cbr%3E3.%20Adam%20Yates%20(GBR)%20UAE%20Team%20Emirates%20%E2%80%9360sec%3Cbr%3ERed%20Jersey%20(General%20Classification)%3A%20Remco%20Evenepoel%20(BEL)%20Soudal%20Quick-Step%3Cbr%3EGreen%20Jersey%20(Points%20Classification)%3A%20Tim%20Merlier%20(BEL)%20Soudal%20Quick-Step%3Cbr%3EWhite%20Jersey%20(Young%20Rider%20Classification)%3A%20Remco%20Evenepoel%20(BEL)%20Soudal%20Quick-Step%3Cbr%3EBlack%20Jersey%20(Intermediate%20Sprint%20Classification)%3A%20Edward%20Planckaert%20(FRA)%20Alpecin-Deceuninck%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FINAL RECKONING
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Hayley Atwell, Simon Pegg
Rating: 4/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Ahmed Raza
UAE cricket captain
Age: 31
Born: Sharjah
Role: Left-arm spinner
One-day internationals: 31 matches, 35 wickets, average 31.4, economy rate 3.95
T20 internationals: 41 matches, 29 wickets, average 30.3, economy rate 6.28
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
FIGHT CARD
Bantamweight Hamza Bougamza (MAR) v Jalal Al Daaja (JOR)
Catchweight 67kg Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) v Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lighweight Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) v Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
Catchweight 73kg Mostafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) v Yazid Chouchane (ALG)
Middleweight Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) v Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78kg Rashed Dawood (UAE) v Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight Sallaheddine Dekhissi (MAR) v Abdel Emam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg Rachid Hazoume (MAR) v Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG)
Lighweight Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg Omar Hussein (PAL) v Souhil Tahiri (ALG)
Middleweight Tarek Suleiman (SYR) v Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
UAE SQUAD
Ahmed Raza (Captain), Rohan Mustafa, Jonathan Figy, CP Rizwan, Junaid Siddique, Mohammad Usman, Basil Hameed, Zawar Farid, Vriitya Aravind (WK), Waheed Ahmed, Karthik Meiyappan, Zahoor Khan, Darius D'Silva, Chirag Suri
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Test series fixtures
(All matches start at 2pm UAE)
1st Test Lord's, London from Thursday to Monday
2nd Test Nottingham from July 14-18
3rd Test The Oval, London from July 27-31
4th Test Manchester from August 4-8
The Penguin
Starring: Colin Farrell, Cristin Milioti, Rhenzy Feliz
Creator: Lauren LeFranc
Rating: 4/5
Napoleon
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if you go
The flights
Fly direct to Kutaisi with Flydubai from Dh925 return, including taxes. The flight takes 3.5 hours. From there, Svaneti is a four-hour drive. The driving time from Tbilisi is eight hours.
The trip
The cost of the Svaneti trip is US$2,000 (Dh7,345) for 10 days, including food, guiding, accommodation and transfers from and to Tbilisi or Kutaisi. This summer the TCT is also offering a 5-day hike in Armenia for $1,200 (Dh4,407) per person. For further information, visit www.transcaucasiantrail.org/en/hike/
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
Dubai World Cup prize money
Group 1 (Purebred Arabian) 2000m Dubai Kahayla Classic - $750,000
Group 2 1,600m(Dirt) Godolphin Mile - $750,000
Group 2 3,200m (Turf) Dubai Gold Cup – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Turf) Al Quoz Sprint – $1,000,000
Group 2 1,900m(Dirt) UAE Derby – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Dirt) Dubai Golden Shaheen – $1,500,000
Group 1 1,800m (Turf) Dubai Turf – $4,000,000
Group 1 2,410m (Turf) Dubai Sheema Classic – $5,000,000
Group 1 2,000m (Dirt) Dubai World Cup– $12,000,000
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
