Madagascar: who will coach the national team?
Following Romuald Rakotondrabe's resignation in November, Madagascar's national team is without a head coach.
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Bottom of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying group with no wins in six matches, the Barea are going through a turbulent spell marked by plenty of internal upheaval.
Besides the resignation of "Coach Roro" and the unconvincing interim spell of Frenchman Gilles Hugon, who was part of the technical staff, the team suffers from a set-up ill-suited to the huge ambitions of federation president Alfred Randriamanampisoa, who has announced he is aiming to qualify for the 2026 World Cup!
A call for applications on the FIFA website…
Third in their group with seven points from four matches, including a win over neighbours Comoros, Madagascar are still in the running, but first have to sort out their problems, in particular the question of the head coach.
Read also: Madagascar: the Federation's conditions for its future head coach
Posted on the FIFA website, which prompted a lot of questions, the call for applications for the job drew 54 candidates. Five names were shortlisted:
- Gilles Hugon, the Frenchman on "Roro's" staff and interim head coach
- Corentin Martins, former head coach of Mauritania and Libya
- Patrice Neveu, former head coach of Gabon, Guinea, DR Congo and Mauritania, among others
- Mario Marinica, Romanian coach who recently managed Malawi and Liberia
- Anthony Da Silva, former assistant to Toni Conceiçao at Cameroon
The head of state's say
Da Silva had publicly said he was in advanced talks with the Malagasy federation. Since then, there has been no news. As for Neveu, he is also on a shortlist to take over the Congo-Brazzaville national team.
Hugon is far from unanimously backed among the players, especially the home-based ones, who felt unfairly treated compared with the odd "naturalisations" of some others, while Martins was, according to our information, hard to afford for the Malagasy state's finances. Nevertheless, in a country where the head of state, Andry Rajoelina, takes a keen interest in the Barea, anything remained possible.