As the Angolan senior men’s national team prepare to face Nigeria in the quarter-final of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the coach of the Southern African side, Pedro Goncalves wants to make his team immortal.
The team responsible for Nigeria not qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup will hope to cause more havoc on the West African side.
For Goncalves, the focus of the team is to be immortal throughout the tournament.
“All the players if we got to this stage of this competition. We are not afraid. We experienced some obstacles which doesn’t stop our progress. At the beginning of this tournament, the level of preparation we gathered, we spoke with players ad carried out an analysis about our level or performance. We set up objectives for ourselves to be immortal which is to get to the final. We will be meeting Nigeria. We are looking a actually our strengths that we will be displaying during the next game,” Goncalves told journalists during pre match press conference on Thursday.
“For all the Angola nation, they have been expecting the team to be at this stage of the competition. It is a pleasure to be facing a big team like Nigeria. We will be playing a powerful team but see this as an opportunity to show our worth. We have give our best in the game. I want to commend my technical team who has been devoted and dedicated to this course. Tomorrow is going to be a great game.
“Yes first of all, we respect Nigeria for all their achievements in African football. Nigeria is such a powerful team with players in the top leagues like the Premier League and Serie A. I voted Osimhen as the best player in the world. Ademola Lookman is also a good player with good performance with Atalanta. We know and studied our opponents. The found the best strategy for this big competition as AFCON. They begin with 4-3-3 and now 3-4-3 formation. They had physical wingers to go upfront and come back. I know Aina and Zaidu because he play in Portugal. They have good midfielders with good forwards like Osimhen, Lookman. They also have some issues where we are looking to create difficulties. We will see because this is a big opportunity of a career for us at this level.
We are motivated. For tomorrow, all the power and thoughts will be on the pitch.”
One of he highest scoring side at the tournament, the Palancas Negras will hope to end the run of one of the best defensive side.
Nigeria has conceded just a goal at the tournament and has scored five.
“We have shown that we have the athletic flexibility which is part of our characteristics which has enabled us to get to this stage of the competition.” He continued. “We might not have all the necessary skills. What we will be doing is to focus on the players at the back. We commend our opponent’s coach for a good job and hope to get a win. Our target is not only on a single player but on the full team. We will create opportunities for ourselves to give our best to win tomorrow’s game.
“Everyone is doing his job individually. I know that the Nigeria national team might be more experienced than us. The most important thing is that we are ready to face Nigeria taking every moment at a time during the training session in a serious way. Tomorrow we will not change our mindset. We have studied the opponents to have our strategy which element will help us get the result.
“In Principe, the favourite team are those that are competent. I think it is on the field that we will know the better team. Angola are present at all continental competitions. If we are here, we should have the right to go far. All the teams are coming to a competition to win. We have got 54 Nations in Africa. Amongst them, we have some that are developed but have the same objective and target to move forward. When we have the opportunity to move ahead, we will use it. We have the opportunity to show that Angolan footballers have the right to reach a professional level and we will portray it.
“The team appeared very strong for tomorrow’s game. We are one of the teams that have scored more goals in the tournament. We have conceded fewer goals as well just a goal. Nigeria is well organised offensively and defensively. They are physically fit. We are cautious of this. These are positive aspects for Nigeria. We have our strong points and abilities that can create go of results. We hope to implement our DNA. I am not going to display our strategy of play. We know our opponents capacity of play and will balance the game on the the field.
“It is going to be our fifth match in 18 days. It will be a complicated game. We are trying to freshen up as soon as possible. However, motivation is there as we have gotten to this stage of this competition. We will try to overcome the fatigue. In case it arises, I hope we will give a good response to our opponents. We have a full team.” He concluded.
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