A successful cartoon of the same name has made Madagascar into the hearts of children around the world. As the capital of the island nation, the land of Antananarivo not only gave birth to fairy tales, but also gave birth to enough inspirational football stories.
Madagascar, located in the western Indian Ocean, is not only a tourist attraction full of volcanic rocks, but also a world of fantastic animation from DreamWorks.
Exactly 14 years ago, Madagascar, produced and distributed by DreamWorks, created a hilarious adventure story for audiences around the world – from happy to bad, from New York to the African continent. With the dubbing of well-known actors such as Ben Stiller, David Swinmer and Chris Locke, Madagascar's return to basics was a considerable commercial success in the film market: with a budget of just $75 million, the American film grossed $532.7 million worldwide, with 339 million overseas markets.
Chinatown on the Ocean
Perhaps it is since then that this is the first island in Africa and the fourth largest in the world, which has crossed thousands of rivers and mountains and sheltered many wild childhood dreams. Earlier this year, in Forbes contributor Ann Abel's Evernote, Madagascar was logically listed in the "Top 10 Coolest Places in the World." In this regard, the well-known entrepreneur Norman Howy said: "In my opinion, Madagascar is like an unexplored planet, and there is still so much biodiversity to be discovered in this wonderful world, both natural and topographical. "As for going to Andasibe National Park or Hanumafana National Park to track lemurs? That's just the "tip of the iceberg" of this mysterious land.
As the capital and largest city of Madagascar, as well as the administrative, communication and economic center, Antananarivo, which houses about 1.9 million people, has a long history and beautiful natural features. Whether it is open-air markets, street food or the past and present of the colonial era, Antananarivo, which means "city of a thousand warriors", has an irreproducible appeal. Historically, Antananarivo has been associated with Yerevan in Armenia and Suzhou in China, and some Chinese people will travel far and wide to support their families in antananarivo's "Chinatown". There have been reports that that "Chinatown" has more than 20 shopping malls and countless vendors.
Of course, the daily label of Antananarivo does not lack football. The Mahmasina Stadium, which experienced a vicious "stampede" last year, is the gathering place for a variety of large-scale events in Antananarivo. From rugby, football, athletics to concerts, they have all left their mark here. In general, the capacity of this stadium is about 22,000 people. In the past year, the Mahamasina Stadium has not hosted the home matches of the Malagasy national team, and the Votovoronna Stadium, also located in Antananarivo, has witnessed the journey of the Malagasy men's football team in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The success of the Malagasy national team has also inspired the children of Antananarivo to enjoy football even if they can only run on the streets.
Advance "warning"
At this summer's Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, Madagascar, which reached the finals for the first time in history, achieved a record of 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss. Although they lost 3-0 to Tunisia in the quarter-finals, the 6th-place finish, as well as the victories over Burundi, Nigeria and Congo, were enough to show the team's emergence. At the end of September, Madagascar will also regroup to play in the qualifiers of the African National Championship, against Mozambique, which has played four times in the African Cup of Nations.
Dupiig's Madagascar scored seven goals at this summer's Africa Cup of Nations by six players.
Before the start of this African Cup of Nations, the Frenchman Nicolas Dupiy, who has been coaching Madagascar for two years, once issued a "warning" to opponents with the help of "French Football": "Friends, you must not underestimate us..." It turns out that The often emphasis on the team is greater than the individual Dippiy, making Madagascar the most powerful dark horse in this tournament, even if there is no top big name based on the European giants, this "rookie team" still passes the hurdle and makes a stunning appearance. Dupiy said he was very proud of his players and that everything they did in the game was an inspiration that the people of Madagascar needed.
Before coming to Africa in March 2017, The 51-year-old Dupiy had been teaching in the French lower leagues for more than 20 years, and in addition to strategizing on the sidelines, he also taught and educated people part-time. Deeppiy had hesitated for a long time to take over the job in Madagascar, and even after a field trip, it took him months to make a choice. Eventually, he decided to come to Africa from Europe and embark on an adventure full of unknowns. For the Frenchman, such an extraordinary experience may be his own "Madagascar".
As we all know, after Madagascar surprised DreamWorks, this fan-catching animated adventure series also released two sequels in 2008 and 2012, called Madagascar 2: Escape to Africa and Madagascar 3: The Great European Siege. The two sequels also received high recognition at the global box office of $603 million and $746 million. Due to changes in the company's internal preparations and planning, madagascar 4, which was supposed to be launched in May 2018, has been repeatedly postponed, and the specific news is still inconclusive. I don't know if these players and Dipie can become a friendly cameo of this well-known IP after the Malagasy national team made history at the African Cup of Nations...
The animated film "Madagascar" is still an influential IP, and the possibility of Dupiy and the team members coming to the guest appearance is not ruled out in the new work.