Africa-Press – Angola. Angola will make their debut against Mali, at 5 pm this Monday, in the African Football Championship (CHAN), taking place in Algeria, when the memorable 4-goal draw in 2010 is still clear among fans.
Despite the fact that these are different competitions, the current one reserved for players who evolve in their respective countries (CHAN) and the other including those from the diaspora (CAN), the analogy is inevitable.
On January 11, 2010, Angola went from heaven to hell, when they thrashed Mali, by 4-0, until the 79th minute, but allowed themselves to be tied in added time in the inaugural game of the Nations Cup, at the 11 de Novembro stadium, in Luanda.
Palancas Negras opened the scoring at 36′ by Flávio, who scored twice at 41′. The second half brought two more goals, both from penalties, at 67′, by Gilberto, and at 74′, by Manucho.
The expressive result seemed to guarantee the victory and left the 50 thousand fans in the stadium in a frenzy, but inexplicably everything changed in an instant. At 79′, the star of Mali, Seydou Keita, made it 1-4, and at 88′ Kanouté reduced it to 2-4.
The opponent’s third goal was scored by Yatabaré, at 90+3 and in the fifth and last minute of stoppage time, that is, at 90+5, Keita starred in the draw.
Equality was like honey for Mali, but bitter for the Angolans who, even today, 13 years later, cannot find plausible explanations for the unprecedented occurrence in the history of the national combined.
Nostalgia aside, what is certain is that the moment is different, as is the type of competition, where only athletes from the national championships play.
At this point, the statistics point to Mali as favorites with two triumphs, in the last three matches between them, with a draw in between.
There is a 0-4 defeat, on February 11, 2009, the memorable 4-4, on January 10, 2010 and 0-1, on July 2, 2019.
In the FIFA Ranking, updated in December 2022, Angola is in 117th place, with 1158.8 points, while Mali is 45th, with 1449.1 pts.
With these numbers, a resilient posture on the part of the Angolans is expected, at the Orãn Olympic Stadíun, in a game of group D, composed of three selections and that only the first classified goes to the quarter-finals.
As for another opponent in the group, Mauritania, the challenge on the 20th could be less complicated. The Mauritanians occupy position 103 in the International Ranking, with 1197.6 pts.
There are three games, one win and one draw for each team. (4-1) to Angola, on October 12, 2018, (1-0) to Mauritania, on the 16th of the same month, in the African Cup and (0-0), on June 29, 2019, in the Women’s Cup Nations.
This is the fourth participation of the National Team in the competition, after Sudan, in 2011, where it was in second place, after losing in the final, by 0-3, against Tunisia.
In 2016, in Rwanda, Angola was eliminated in the group stage, while in 2018, in the Kingdom of Morocco, it finished in the quarter-finals, having lost to Nigeria, by 1-2.
Mali was a finalist in 2016, in Rwanda, and in 2021, in Cameroon, while Mauritania had a modest presence in the Morocco edition, in 2018.
For this 7th edition of CHAN, the National Team is made up of Neblu, Hugo Marques and Langanga (goalkeepers), Tó Carneiro, Danilson, Razão, Eddie Afonso, Kinito, Kibeixa and Paizo (defenders).
The group is completed by Além, Higino, Keliano, Herenilson, Megue and Vitoriano (midfielders), Bito, Gilberto, Caneta, Jaredi, Julinho, Depú and Lepua (forwards).
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