The local palancas Negras of Angola will be making their fourth appearance at the African Nations championship, when the seventh edition of the competition gets underway in Algeria on January 13. Pedro Gonçalves’ side will compete in one of the two groups of three, alongside Mali and Mauritania.
Journey to the Final
Angola had a tough ride on their way to picking one of the three tickets to represent the South Zone in Algeria. The Palancas Negras eliminated Mauritius 3_0 on aggregate in the first round of qualifiers. Angola had won the first leg 2_0 on 24 July 2022 at the Complexe Sportif de Côte d’Or, Saint Pierre, thanks to goals from Augusto Carneiro and an own goal from Pascal Damien Balisson, before recording a one_nil at the Estádio 11 de Novembro, Luanda, on July 30, 2022 thanks to a goal from Megue.
Palancas Negras of Angola
In the second round of qualifiers, Angola recorded a whooping 6_1 aggregate win over South Africa. Goals from Danielson and Teixiera gave Pedro Gonçalves’side a 2_0 win at home in August, before they completed a 4_1 away win in South Africa in September 2022. Mosa Lebusa’s own goal had cancelled out Prince Nxumalo’s early goal that had put South Africa in front, but Gilberto, Jó Paciência, and Danilson, all hit the back of the net at the Dobsonville Stadium, Soweto, to complete the job for Angola, as they secured qualification for Algeria.
Coach
46_year_old Portuguese tactician Pedro Valdemar Soares Gonçalves, is the man in charge of the Angolan senior national teams.
Pedro Gonçalves
The Portuguese has been within the Angolan football circle since 2015, when he was head coach of 1º de Agosto U17 team, and later on appointed coach of the Angolan U17 National team, a team he qualified for the 2019 U17 FIFA World Cup. In August 2019, he was appointed as manager of the Angola national football team on an interim basis and later on made permanent, and has been heading the Angolan senior men National team, with their CHAN team inclusive.
Nickname
The Angolan National team is nicknamed Palancas Negras (The giant sable antelope). The giant sable antelope is a national symbol of Angola and is portrayed on numerous stamps, banknotes, and even passports of the nation.
Number of Appearances and Results
Angola has featured in three CHAN competitions this far, and will be making their fourth appearance in Algeria. They were part of the competition in 2011 in Sudan, where they recorded their best ever performance, Rwanda in 2016 where they were ousted in the group stage and Morocco in 2018 where the reached the quarter finals. They have missed out on three editions, 2009, 2014 and 2020.
2011 Edition
Angola 1 – 1 Tunisia
Carlos Manuel Gonçalves Alonso 90+2’m/ Youssef Msakni 7′
Senegal 0 – 0 Angola
Rwanda 1 – 2 Angola
Jean-Baptiste Mugiraneza 18/ Arsénio Sebastião Cabungula 31′,
Osório Carvalho 57′
Cameroon 0 – 0 (7_8) Angola
Sudan 1 – 1 (a.e.t.) Angola
Saif Eldin Ali 45’/ Arsénio Sebastião Cabungula 71′
Tunisia 3 – 0 Angola
Traoui 47, Dhaouadi 74, Darragi 80′
2016 Edition
Angola 0–1 Cameroon
DR Congo 4–2 Angola
Munganga 8, Meschak 18, Bolingi 38, Bokadi 82’/ Gelson 75, Kimwaki 84′ (o.g.)
Ethiopia 1–2 Angola
Tesfaye 74’/ Ary Papel 54′, 72′
2018 Edition
Angola 0–0 Burkina Faso
Angola 1–0 Cameroon
Ricardo Job Estévão 30′ (pen.)
Congo 0–0 Angola
Nigeria 2–1 (a.e.t.) Angola
Okpotu 90+2, Okechukwu 109/Vladimiro Etson António Félix 56′
Group Fixtures
Angola will open their Group D fixtures with a game against last year’s runner’s up, Mali on , 16 January 2023, at the Miloud Hadefi Stadium, Oran. This will be followed by their second and last group game four days later (20 January 2023), against Mauritania. Before the end of the second day of competition in Group D, Angola is supposed to already know their fate going forward in the competition, as they will be on standby in the third round of group games.
Competition’s best scorer(s)
In total, Angola has scored 10 goals in 13 games across three editions of the CHAN. Their top scorers in the final phase of the competition, are Ary Papel and Arsénio Sebastião Cabungula, with two goals each, scored in the 2016 and 2011 editions respectively.
Best Performance
2011 stands out as Angola’s best run in the competition. In what was their debut, Angola finished runners up, after suffering a 3#0 defeat to Tunisia in the final.
In their run-up to the final in Sudan 2011, they had recorded two draws in the group stage against Tunisia and Senegal, before defeating Rwanda to book a place for the knockout phase.
They went on to edge Cameroon 8#7 on penalties in the quarter finals, and also needed penalties to go pass Sudan in the semifinals.
Potential Stars
30_year_old Primeiro de Agosto’s left back lomão Manuel Troco (Paizo), will be one to watch in Pedro Gonçalves’ side. Paízo is a full Angolan international, since he made his senior international debut on 19 December 2012 in a 1-0 friendly victory over Cameroon.
Sagrada Esperança’s forward Laurindo Dilson Maria Aurélio, commonly known as Depú, is another exciting talent to keep tabs on. The 22_year_old forward notch 15 league goals in 12 games for Sagrada Esperança last season, and can offer much in Angola’s quest for Glory at the CHAN
Unsung Hero
23_year_old defender Daniel Jose Kilola, commonly known as Danilson, played a big role in Angola’s CHAN qualification. The club Interclube defense man scored twice in back to back games against South Africa to finish as the Palancas Negras top scorer in the qualifies.
Squad
Coach Pedro Gonçalves has selected a team of 23 players currently in camp in Portugal. The team is made up of three goalkeepers, seven defenders, six midfielders, seven forwards and eight other players in the waiting list.
Complete list
Goalkeepers
Neblu, Hugo Marques, Langanga
Defenders
Tó Carneiro, Danilson, Razão, Eddie Afonso, Kinito, Kibeixa and Paizo
Midfielders
Além, Higino, Keliano, Herenilson, Megue, Vitoriano
Forwards
Bito, Gilberto, Caneta, Jaredi, Julinho, Depú and Lepua
Waiting list
Migue, Hossi, Lulas, Pedro Francisco, Benvindo Afonso,Jeffer and Jó Paciência.
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