Mabi De Almeida Sacked

Following the negative results and terrible perfomances of the national team, the FAF has parted company with manager Mabi De Almeida.

Mabi De Almeida’s period as the national team manager was without a doubt one of the worst periods in the history of Angolan football.
The national team failed to win their last 4 friendly matches, and their performances suggested that the team had taken a backward step. A heavy defeat to Mali was followed by a poor display and eventual defeat to Cape Verde.

It was only a matter of time before the fans would start calling for the manager’s head. As the poor displays continued, the fans put an immense pressure on the FA to sack the manager (which surprisingly, they were slightly reluctant to do at first).

The decision was inevitable. There was simply no hope for the national team with Mabi in command.
It was hard enough to believe that a Physical Education graduate without any experience of managing a football team, could step up and lead a national team, let alone revive a team in crisis.

Zeca Amaral is in charge until the FA finds a suitable replacement. Fans will want to hang on to the hope that a decent manager will be hired. The worst possible scenario now, would be to leave Zeca Amaral (who was the assistant coach recently, just like Mabi was to Oliveira Goncalves) in charge of the national team during the AFCON.

Luis Felipe Scolari’s name has been mentioned as a possible replacement, as well as Al-Ahly coach Manuel Jose. It is however, more likely that the FA will hire a coach from the Girabola (Angolan league), as the AFCON is only a few months away.

Let’s hope that the FA make the right decision this time. Any manager with experience would be deemed decent, considering that Mabi de Almeida did not have any.