Africa-Press – Angola. Mentally very strong, a posture never seen in recent decades, Angola was resilient in “getting” a draw against the powerful Algeria, with the taste of victory, on Monday night, in the debut of group D of the CAN`2023, at the Peace Stadium, in Bouaké, Côte d`Ivoire.
The contenders recorded their seventh draw in 10 games, since the first time they met 39 years ago, with a draw on March 31, 1985.
Two victories for the Desert Warriors followed, both 3-2, respectively in 1958 and 2001, while the Palancas Negras were superior in 2005 (2-1), as hosts, in the race to the 2006 World Championship. , in Germany, where he was present for the first and only time.
The two-time African champion (1990 and 2019) lived up to his status as favorite and put Angola in the defensive sector throughout the first 45 minutes, ending up opening the scoring at 18′, after defender Kialonda Gaspar failed to cut the ball to the realization of Bounedjh.
After the goal, it took a lot of collective concentration to avoid the worst, with a spirit of inter-help between the three sectors (defense, midfield and attack) and a very attentive Nublú goalkeeper between the posts, warding off various dangers with his fists or with secure defenses.
In the first half there were no big plays for the Palancas Negras, exceptionally when at 16′, in a counterattack, the captain Fredy shot at the foot of an opponent.
In the 24th minute, the Algerians scored a goal in an acrobatic way, but it was disallowed for offside and in the 30th minute, again Fredy, served from midfield and in front of the opposite goalkeeper, deflected the ball, but it took effect and passed by the crossbar.
Under continuous offensive pressure from the opponent, coach Pedro Gonçalves placed striker Mabululu in place of defensive midfielder Bruno Paz, in the Portuguese coach’s most intelligent decision during the challenge that would result in the equalizer, at 68′.
The international for Ittihad Alexandria, from Egypt, received a ball from the left wing of the rectangle and was foully stopped by an opposing defender, trying to equalize the match with a ball himself.
But before that, Angola had already changed Algeria’s offensive tendency, starting to bother the opponent’s last stronghold more often, mainly after the arrivals in the 78th minute of Eddie Afonso (Loide Augusto) and Milson (Zito Luvumbo). Previously, captain Fredy had also been replaced by Zini.
In the last quarter of an hour, the Algerians tried to reverse the result, but Angola canceled all attempts at offensive moves with central defender Kialonda Gaspar being master in his position and goalkeeper Neblu very confident between the posts.
The statistics clearly demonstrate Angola’s ability to overcome an opponent completely focused on attacking, especially in the first half of the 10th match between the two teams.
In terms of possession of the ball, Algeria obtained 64 percent, against 36 for Angola. Goal attempts (16-7), corner kicks (14-2), attacks (116-60) and dangerous attacks (73-19).
Angola plays again on Saturday against Madagascar, for the second round, while Algeria faces Burkina Faso.
Today (16) they play for the group of Angola (D), Burkina Faso-Mauritania, from 2pm, at the Paz Stadium.
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