CHAN 2022 : Madagascar, Angola Create Upsets

The notion that there is no small team in football is gaining grounds as it is further buttressed in the ongoing African Nations Championship in Algeria. If there are two teams that put up surprising performances in the just-ended Day one matches, then Madagascar and Angola will top the charts. Madagascar are in their very first CHAN competition and succeeded to beat two-time finalists Ghana 2-1 on Sunday January 15, 2023 to go top of Group C. They thus clinched their first-ever three points in the tournament after a convincing show over their Ghanaian opponents who were tipped favourites of the encounter. Apart from being finalists twice, Ghana are in their fourth participation in the competition. The Black Galaxies played as favourites but is was Madagascar that made use of their opportunities to carry the day. This created shock to the Ghanaians who thought the Madagascans were the only soft bone in the Group. With Madagascar currently at the top of Group C, they have better chances of progressing to the second round in their very first participation following Morocco’s absence.
Contrary to Madagascar, Angola are not debutants but put up an unexpected daring performance against two-time finalists, Mali on Monday January 16, 2023. Angola are competing in this continental competition for the fourth time and their best performance was in 2011 when they reached the final in Sudan but were not favourites against ...