Africa-Press – Angola. Angola finished the group stage of the 34th edition of CAN`2023, which is taking place in Côte d`Ivoire, with unprecedented numbers since it began holding similar events in 1996, in South Africa.
The national team qualified on Tuesday for the first time to the round of 16 of the continental competition since the competition now has 24 teams and the “round of 16” phase.
The Angolans last reached the quarter-finals, a period that followed the group stage, at the time with 16 competitors, in 2010, in a competition held in the country, after having already done so in the Ghana edition. 2008′.
In the initial phase of the current tournament, which takes place in five cities in Côte d`Ivoire, Angola was placed in group D, based in the city of Bouaké and on Tuesday (23) it ended this period in the lead, a position never before achieved in its history. historic.
With seven points, the result of two victories (Mauritania (3-2), Burkina Faso (2-0) and a draw against Algeria (1-1), the National Team also scored six goals, conceded just three and saw two athletes named “Man of the Game”, namely Gelson Dala and Kialonda Gaspar.
According to the CAF program, due to the first position in the group, Angola will play the round of 16 in the same city where the competition started (Bouaké), on Saturday, from 5 pm, with the third best placed in the group E or F (enter the scene this Wednesday).
Until then, the team has former striker Manucho Gonçalves as the top scorer in a Nations Cup final, with four goals scored in the competition that Ghana organized in 2008, a record about to be equaled or beaten.
Currently two Angolan players appear on the list of CAN`2023’s top scorers with two goals each, namely Gelson Dala and Mabululu, and it is expected that the regular tendency to score will continue among Angolan scorers.
Statistics also show that Angola has never scored seven points in a similar event, and there is no talk of moving on to the other phase (second) as group leader.
In the debut tournament, in South Africa, in 1996, Angola did not pass the preliminary round. They lost to Egypt (2-1) and South Africa (1-0) and drew with Cameroon (3-3) and the country waited 12 years for the unprecedented quarter-finals, in the competition played in Ghana , in 2008.
Standing out in the city of Tamalé, the Angolan team, led by national coach Oliveira Gonçalves, reached the other stage for the first time, thanks to second place in group D, won by Tunisia.
The Angolans were even ahead of Senegal and South Africa, but were eliminated by Egypt in the quarter-finals, losing 1-2.
Angola confirmed its rise on the continental scene by reaching the quarter-finals twice in the 2010 edition, in which it progressed as host.
In fact, playing at the 11 de Novembro stadium, in Luanda, the National Team was on the verge of the semi-finals had it not been for a fateful 4-4 with Mali, when they were winning until the 73rd minute (4-0), and a defeat unexpected 0-1 with Ghana, in the “quarters”.
In the history of alternating participation in this biggest summit of continental football, after its debut in 1996, Angola has never managed to do better to date.
In 1998, in Burkina Faso, led by the Portuguese Manuel Gonçalves “Neca”, the Palancas Negras finished in third place in group C and were in the initial phase, behind Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa and ahead of Namibia.
This position was repeated in 2006, in Egypt, with Cameroon, DR Congo and Togo as opponents.
In the 2012 CAN, in Equatorial Guinea, the National Team, led by the former national team footballer, Lito Vidigal, failed to do better than the group stage, as occurred in 2013, again in South Africa.
Under the technical guidance of Uruguayan Gustavo Ferrin, Angola was placed in group A, alongside the host team, Cape Verde and Morocco.
In 2019, the national team, led by Serbian Srdjan Vasiljevic, competed for the eighth time in a competition held in Egypt (group E), having occupied third place and again did not go beyond the initial phase.
Angola’s trajectory in Nations Cups
1996 – Fourth placed in group A, with 1 point, in South Africa
1998 – Third in group C, with 2 points, in Burkina Faso
2006- Third place in group B, with 4 points, in Egypt.
2008- Quarter-finals, defeat against Egypt (1-2), in Ghana
2010- Quarter-finals, defeat against Ghana (0-1), in Angola
2012- Third in group B, with 4 points, in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea
2013- Fourth in group A, with 1 pts, in South Africa
2019- Third in group E, with 2pts, in Egypt.
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