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The 2019 sports year ends for African football. Three nations will have done well with Algeria, Senegal and Madagascar especially during the CAN in Egypt.
After a slump that lasted several years with repeated conflicts and a waltz of the coaches, the Algerian team is now at the top of African football with a continental title acquired brilliantly this summer in Egypt. However, the Fennecs had arrived on tiptoe with in the head the fiasco of the CAN 2017 in Gabon and an elimination in the first round. The change took place during the Djamel Belmadi era.
The former Marseille player arrived in August 2018, almost a year before the CAN 2019. The ex-coach of Lekhwiya Sports Club in Qatar rebuilt a group and gave the desire to improve the somewhat tarnished image of football Algerian. The campaign for the qualification of the CAN 2019 proceeded in serenity and Algeria remains at the moment on a series of 18 matches without defeat. The last goes back to October 16, 2018 against Benin (1-0).
Riyad Mahrez , the captain of the Algerian selection, is one of the three finalists in the race for the African Player of the Year 2019 (with the Senegalese Sadio Mané and the Egyptian Mohamed Salah). The champion of England with Manchester City notably scored the goal that sent the Fennecs to the CAN 2019 final. His coach Djamel Belmadi is in the running for the title of Best Coach of an African Men's Team (he is in competition with the Tunisian Moïne Chaâbani and the Senegalese Aliou Cissé).
Unhappy finalist of the 2019 African Cup of Nations, Senegal occupies second place in this competition for the second time, which remains a feat. Aliou Cissé, the coach and former captain of the 2002 generation, had already achieved the feat of qualifying the Lions in the semi-finals, after 13 years of absence, and in the quarter-finals during the previous CAN 2017 organized by Gabon. The Teranga Lions are at the top of the FIFA ranking for the African continent and will have no less than four representatives at the CAF Awards awarded in January 2020: Kalidou Koulibaly, Sadio Mané, Kréppin Diatta and coach Aliou Cissé.
Winner of the Champions League with Liverpool and CAN finalist, Sadio Mané had a full 2019. And despite his fourth place at the last Ballon d'Or, the Senegalese can be proud to be part of a flagship nation in African football.
For a surprise, it was a surprise. After going through a preliminary round, Madagascar was the first team to validate its ticket for CAN 2019. Thanks to a magnificent free kick scored at the end of the match signed Marco Ilaimaharitra, Madagascar had won the first CAN victory in its history against Burundi (1-0) on the second day. “ This is our first participation and we have a draw and a victory. We are doing miracles and that's good, ”said coach Nicolas Dupuis. Then, the country achieved the feat of reaching the quarterfinals of the final phase in Egypt. Nicolas Dupuis' men even finished at the head of their group by indulging in the luxury of beating Nigeria in group matches.
Le Petit Poucet has surprised his world with a workforce made up of players who do not necessarily play in major clubs and championships. But the solidarity and the group spirit allowed the Barea to advance step by step in the competition until this defeat in the quarter-finals, to come out with their heads held high against Tunisia.