Angola

All you want to know about Angola

Angola

Image:Angola FA.gif

Nickname(s)

Palancas Negras
(The Black Antelopes)

Association

Federação Angolana
de Futebol

Confederation

CAF (Africa)

Head coach

Vacant

Captain

Akwá

Most caps

Akwá (80)

Top scorer

Akwá (36)

Home stadium

Estádio da Cidadela

FIFA code

ANG

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

45 (July 2000)

Lowest FIFA ranking

124 (March 1994)

Elo ranking

Highest Elo ranking

50 (Sept-Oct 2006)




Home colours




Away colours

First international

Angola 1 - 0 Cuba

(Angola; 1 June 1977)

Biggest win

Angola 7 - 1 Swaziland

(Luanda, Angola; 23 April 2000)

Biggest defeat

Portugal 6 - 0 Angola

(Lisbon, Portugal; 23 March 1989)

World Cup

Appearances

1 (First in 2006)

Best result

Round 1, 2006

Africa Nations Cup

Appearances

4 (First in 1996)

Best result

Quarterfinals, 2008

The Angola national football team, nicknamed Palancas Negras, ("The Black Antelopes") is the national team of Angola and is controlled by the Federação Angolana de Futebol. On October 8, 2005, Angola qualified for the World Cup for the first time, winning their qualifying group ahead of three-time qualifiers Nigeria. They did not progress past the first round of the tournament

Luís Oliveira Gonçalves took over as coach of the team in 2003, having previously managed the Under-20 team, and is the most successful in Angolan history, having lead them into their first World Cup, and to the quarterfinals of the Africa Nations Cup for the first time.

1 Key players
2 Angola Football Achievements
3 History
4 World Cup record
5 African Nations Cup record
6 2006 World Cup Information
7 Current Squad
- 7.1 Recent Call Ups
8 External links

Key players

Figueiredo - Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ
Mantorras - SL Benfica
Rui Marques - Leeds United
Akwá - Petro Atlético
Flávio Amado - Al Ahly
Manucho Gonçalves - Manchester United FC

Angola Football Achievements

COSAFA Cup :

3 Times Champion (1999, 2001, 2004)

Central African Games :

1 Time Runners-Up

History

Angola came to international prominence in the 1990s with appearances in two African Nations Cup tournaments.

They finished runners-up behind Cameroon in the 1998 and 2002 World Cup qualifying series, losing only one game in the process. They finally qualified for their first World Cup in 2006, and performed credibly to finish third in their group behind Portugal and Mexico.

World Cup record

1930 to 1982 - Did not enter
1986 to 2002 - Did not qualify
2006 - Round 1

African Nations Cup record

1957 to 1980 - Did not enter
1982 - Did not qualify
1984 - Did not qualify
1986 - Did not enter
1988 to 1992 - Did not qualify
1994 - Did not enter
1996 - Round 1
1998 - Round 1
2000 to 2004 - Did not qualify
2006 - Round 1
2008 - Quarterfinals
2010 - Qualified automatically as co-host

2006 World Cup Information

Fans of the Angolan national football team in Cologne, Germany.

When picking the squad, Gonçalves sought advice from Chelsea manager José Mourinho, whose wife was born in Angola. They lost their opening game in the World Cup to a theoretically much stronger Portuguese side. The final score was 1-0, which was a surprise for most people as Portugal dominated throughout the match, but Angola managed to hold on. Pauleta scored the only goal of the game.

With memorable saves from their keeper João Ricardo, Angola played Mexico to a 0-0 draw in Hannover on the 16th of June, earning their first World Cup point.

For their third match, the team played 1-1 against Iran. They took the lead in the last match when Flávio scored after an hour. This gave them a theoretical chance to qualify for the next round, but Iran equalized after 15 minutes, ending Angola's hopes.

Current Squad

The following players were called for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification against Benin on September 7, 2008.

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	GK	Lama	February 1, 1981			Petro Atletico
12	GK	Nuno	February 27, 1980			AS Aviacao
2	DF	Jamuana		3	0	Petro Atletico
3	DF	Jamba	July 10, 1977			Petro Atletico
4	DF	Amaro	November 12, 1986	0	0	Sport Luanda e Benfica
6	DF	Yamba Asha	July 31, 1978	61	1	Petro Atletico
13	DF	Locó	December 25, 1984			Primeiro Agosto
15	DF	Rui Marques	September 3, 1977	11	0	Leeds United
5	MF	Xara	October 10, 1981			Petro Atletico
7	MF	Zé Kalanga	October 12, 1983			Dinamo
8	MF	André Macanga	May 14, 1978			Al-Kuwait
11	MF	Gilberto	September 21, 1982			Al-Ahly
14	MF	Mendonça	October 9, 1982			Estrela Amadora
17	MF	Job	September 27, 1987	4	1	Petro Atletico
9	FW	Mantorras	March 18, 1982			Benfica
10	FW	Vado				Sport Luanda e Benfica
16	FW	Flávio	December 30, 1979			Al-Ahly
18	FW	Love	March 14, 1979			Primeiro Agosto

Recent Call Ups

The following players have been called up for the team in 2008.

Name	DOB	Club	Caps (goals)	Most Recent Call up
Goalkeepers
Mário	June 1, 1985	InterClube	1 (0)	v Niger, June 8, 2008
Defenders
Manuel Machado	December 24, 1985	Anadia F.C.	0 (0)	v Uganda, June 14, 2008
Kali	October 11, 1978	FC Sion	32 (0)	v Uganda, June 14, 2008
Marco Airosa	August 6, 1984	CD Fátima		v Egypt, February 4, 2008
Midfielders
Maurito	June 24, 1981	Al-Kuwait	22 (4)	v Uganda, June 14, 2008
Édson	February 3, 1980	Pacos Ferreira		v Egypt, February 4, 2008
Dedé	July 4, 1981	Pacos Ferreira	3 (1)	v Senegal, January 27, 2008
Figueiredo	November 28, 1972	Ceahlăul Piatra Neamţ		v South Africa, January 23, 2008
Strikers
Minguito	May 15, 1983	InterClube		v Uganda, June 14, 2008
Diangi Matusiwa	December 21, 1985	FC Den Bosch	0 (0)	v Benin, June 1, 2008
Manucho Goncalves	March 7, 1983	Manchester United	14 (6)	v Egypt, February 4, 2008
Mateus	June 19, 1984	Nacional		v Egypt, February 4, 2008

No.	Pos.	Player	DoB (Age)	Caps	Goals	Club
	DF	Lau	23 January 1986	0	0	Petro Atletico
	DF	Eduardo	10 October 1986	0	0	InterClube
	MF	Gildo	19 February 1983	0	0	InterClube
	MF	Tunga	25 June 1985			Primeiro Agosto
	FW	Santana	15 June 1983			Petro Atletico
21	DF	Luis Delgado	1 November 1979	20	0	FC Metz
	MF	Mabina				Petro Atletico
	MF	Nelo		0	0	Sport Lubango e Benfica
	FW	Pedro Henriques				InterClube