President Andry Rajoelina says "there’s a national pride" in Madagascar after the Africa Cup of Nations debutants qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition.
Madagascar produced another upset to beat Democratic Republic of Congo 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
The president, who chartered a plane to bring supporters to the competition in Egypt, told the BBC that "we have been able to prove that this is a winning team."
He said that now they have reached the quarter-finals "we are going to go to the end and win [the competition] and impress our adversaries".
In Sunday's other game, goals from Youcef Belaili, Riyad Mahrez and Adam Ounas saw Algeria cruise past Guinea 3-0 in Cairo.
Algeria face either Mali or Ivory Coast in the last eight on Thursday.
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