Lalaïna Henintsoa Nomenjanahary (born 16 January 1986) is a former Malagasy professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Early and personal life

Nomenjanahary grew up in a poor family in

Antananarivo Antananarivo ( French: ''Tananarive'', ), also known by its colonial shorthand form Tana, is the capital and largest city of Madagascar. The administrative area of the city, known as Antananarivo-Renivohitra ("Antananarivo-Mother Hill" or "An ...

. During his youth, he made toys from recycled tin cans to sell them. He is married to Julia and since arriving in France, most of his and his wife's family live there as well. Known for his speed, Nomenjanahary is sometimes referred to by his childhood nickname ''Bolida''. He is good friends with fellow Malagasy footballer

Faneva Imà Andriatsima Faneva Imà Andriatsima (born 3 June 1984) is a Malagasy professional footballer who plays as a forward. Career Born in the Malagasy capital, Antananarivo, Andriatsima began his career at homeland club AS St-Michel. In 2004, he joined USCA F ...

and he looks up to

Hervé Arsène Hervé Arsène (born 30 October 1963) is a Malagasy association football, football coach and former player who played as a Defender (association football), defender with US Saint André, RC Lens and La Roche Vendée Football. Career Born in Nos ...

as a mentor.

Club career

Early on, Nomenjanahary gained attention as a wing-back. His first club was

Ajesaia Ajesaia is a Malagasy football club based in Antananarivo, Madagascar. The team won the Coupe de Madagascar in 2006, qualifying them for the Super Coupe de Madagascar (which they lost 1–0 to AS Adema) and the CAF Confederation Cup (where they ...

before moving to play on the island of

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

. On the advice of fellow Malagasy player

, Nomenjanahary decided to sign for Arsène's former club

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (, commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply Lens) is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the Pas-de-Calais department. Its nickname, ''les sang et or'' (''the blood and gold''), come ...

in 2012. After two seasons, Nomenjanahary's impressive performances earned him a new three-year contract, keeping him at the club until 2016. When Lens made their return to the Ligue 1 in the 2014–15 season, Nomenjanahary played 26 of the team's 38 matches, and in the third game of the season he scored the only goal in a shock 1–0 win over

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a men and women's French professional football club based in Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The men play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. Founded in 1950, th ...

. Despite this, Lens ended the season in the bottom of the table and were relegated. On 11 May 2016, after four years with Lens, Nomenjanahary's contract expired. On 9 September 2016, Nomenjanahary joined fellow Ligue 2 team

Paris FC Paris Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris FC or simply PFC, is a French professional football club based in Paris, that competes in the Ligue 2, the second tier of French football. Paris FC play their home matches at the Stade Ch ...

on a one-year contract. On 10 October 2016, Nomenjanahary scored his first goals for Paris as he netted a brace in a 7–0 victory over Val d'Europe in the fifth round of the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

. In 2021, after his contract with Paris FC expired, he joined 4th-tier side

Paris 13 Atletico Paris 13 Atletico is a French football club based in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. It competes in the Championnat National, the third tier of French football. The club was founded in 1968 as ''Football Club Gobelins''. It was renamed ''F ...

International career

From 2006 to 2021, Nomenjanahary made 44 appearances and scored 5 goals for the Madagascar national team, including one at the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champion ...

in Egypt in a surprise victory over

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. He has said that it is his dream for Madagascar to qualify for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Madagascar's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nomenjanahary goal.''

Honours

Ajesaia *

THB Champions League The Pro League Championnat de Football National Division 1 (known as Orange Pro League Madagascar for sponsorship reasons) is the premier football (soccer), football league in Madagascar. Prior to 2019, it was known as the Three Horses Beer-sponso ...

: 2007, 2009 *

Super Coupe de Madagascar The Super Coupe de Madagascar is a football competition between the winners of the THB Champions League and the Coupe de Madagascar. List of winners *1994: AS Cimelta *2006: AS Adema 1-0 Ajesaia *2007: Ajesaia ''p'' 1-1 AS Adema *2008: AS ADEMA (A ...

: 2007; 2009 *

Coupe de Madagascar The Coupe de Madagascar is the top knockout tournament in Malagasy football. It was created in 1974. Winners *1974: Fortior Mahajanga *1975: Fortior Mahajanga *1976: Fortior Mahajanga *1977: Fortior Mahajanga *1978: AS Sotema *1979: AS Sotema ...

: 2006 Madagascar *

Football at the Indian Ocean Island Games The association football tournament at the Indian Ocean Island Games (French: Jeux des îles de l'océan Indien) which is organised every 4 years for the Islands in the Indian Ocean. From 1947 until 1963 a precursor called '' Triangulaire'' was ...

silver medal: 2007 Madagascar U20 * COSAFA CUP U20:

COSAFA U-20 Challenge Cup The COSAFA Under 20 Challenge is an annual tournament for teams from Southern Africa organized by COSAFA. Participants Teams that can technically enter are: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * . Past winners The event scheduled f ...

2005 Individual * Best Player of the

: 2007 *

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

Player of the year: 2012 * Ligue 2 Player of the Month: September 2018 *Trophy OFC: Finalist for African Player revelation of the year: 2019 Orders * Knight Order of Madagascar: 2019

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nomenjanahary, Lalaina 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Antananarivo Men's association football midfielders Malagasy men's footballers Madagascar men's international footballers Ajesaia players CS Avion players RC Lens players Paris FC players Paris 13 Atletico players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Malagasy expatriate men's footballers Malagasy expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Réunion 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Madagascar