Making Sense of the Midfield

One of the areas I will be watching closely when Angola plays in the Cosafa Castle Cup later this month is the midfield. With the loss of Gilberto to injury for the World Cup, there is a big hole to fill. I also see the midfield as being the weakest part of the Palancas team.

Here are the midfielders coach Goncalves has selected for the tournament in Lesotho: Fofana (AS Aviacao), Gazeta (Primeiro Agosto), Jojo (Sagrada Esperanca), Jose Quitongo (Partick Thistle, Scotland), Mateus Matinungina (Sprimont Comblain Sport, Belgium), Miloy (InterClube), Sergio (AS Aviacao), Ze Augusto (Primeiro Agosto), Ze Kalanga (Petro Atletico)

Of these guys, you have to figure Miloy, Ze Kalanga, Jojo and Ze Augusto are fairly good bets on making the World Cup roster. You also have to figure the team will carry 8 or 9 midfielders. With Andre Macanga and Paulo Figueiredo also likely to make the team, that means there are at best two or three midfield spots the rest of the players are battling to fill.

I’m very keen on seeing how Quitongo and Matinungina fare. They could be a couple of wildcards who would lend depth to a position that is a bit thin at the moment.