Player of the match for a third time, Michel Ramandimbisoa Lalainarinjaka is proving to be the pillar on which Madagascar is building their TotalEnergies African Nations Championship CHAN, PAMOJA 2024 ambitions.
Upon receiving his latest award earned after the seven saves made in the 2-1 win against Burkina Faso on Saturday evening at the Amaan stadium, the veteran expressed his satisfaction with his teams journey so far and stated his new goal.
Im happy with our journey, and I think its not by chance that l win this award for a third time. There was lots of work that went into this. I would like to thank my fans who have supported me through this journey, an elated Michel Ramandimbisoa said.
Michel, affectionately known as Lalaina, 39, denied claiming all the glory, despite his impressive performances playing a crucial role in Madagascars tournament success.
Our performance is down to work put together by the coach and my teammates. He also acknowledged Burkina Fasos strength, saying, Burkina Faso is a strong team. They gave us a tough time on the field of play.
With his exceptional goalkeeping and experience, Michel has become a key player for Madagascars team, with two clean sheets: against the Central African Republic and Mauritania plus 15 saves in the group stage, he is certainly the heart beat of the Berea dream and says he has ambitions for the team and himself.
The dream now is to help my team do better in the next round to give myself a chance of being the goalkeeper of the tournament, ASSM Elgeco Plus keeper concluded.
Madagascar are through to the quarterfinal of the CHAN for the second edition in a row and will be one of the teams to watch in the knockout beginning from their next fixture against the winner of group A which could either be: Morocco, DR Congo, or Kenya.