2011 African Nations Championship (CHAN)

February 6th, 2011 | by: kiko | Comments(6)

Angola will make their debut at the CHAN championships in day 4 of the tournament, against Tunisia.

The tournament will be an opportunity for the “girabolistas” to show their value and make a claim for a permanent spot in the national team.

But most importantly, it will be an opportunity for young players to gain experience in the national team setup. The opposition in the CHAN championship are likely to provide stiffer competition than the usual girabola team.

In fact, Tunisia has a squad full of experienced players from clubs that usually compete at the latter stages of the African Champions League.

So, do the Palancas Negras stand any chance of success?

Some of the players in the squad have already been capped by the national team, which means that they will understand the setup and at least know where the goal is. Players like Love, Ze Kalanga and Cali will guide the younger players on the field.

The problem is, Angola has a new coach- Lito Vidigal. He is the third coach in the space of a year.

Although theoretically, Vidigal is a more qualified coach than his predecessor, he has no experience in managing national teams. The constant change of personnel is unlikely to help Angola in the long term.

On a more positive note, Angola will hope to make use of the formidable skills of Job, who was voted as the best player of the girabola last season. They will have a strong midfield with the reliable Chara in the holding role and the pacey Ze Kalanga wide on the right.

The Palancas have also had a successful training camp in Brazil, where they won 2 matches and lost 1.

Overall, all will depend on how fast the less experienced members of the squad will take to adjust to playing in an international tournament.

I expect Angola to scrape through the quarter-finals, but after that, inexperience is likely to get the better of them in the latter stages of the tournament.