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Proud of the Palancas, Proud of Angola

June 22nd, 2006 | By: WC Bob | 8 Comments »

Now that the World Cup has come to an end for Angola we can reflect upon what they have achieved. If you were to tell me a few years ago that Angola would beat out Nigeria for a spot in the World Cup and then go earn to earn ties against Iran and Mexico, I would have told you that you were crazy.

But that is exactly what our team did. I couldn’t be prouder.

Angola might not be the richest nation on this planet and we might not have the best football players in the world, but we do have a lot of reasons to be happy. One of those reasons is the spirit and heart shown by the 23 men and the coaches on our team.

We all would have liked things to finish better, but realistically this was a result that was about as good as we could expect. From Ricardo standing on his head to save shots to the emergence of Loco as a defender to the speed and skill of Mateus to the leadership of Figueriedo, there were a lot of heroes for Angola at this World Cup.

Our team was not given much of a chance by outsiders but after our play on the field it is the same outsiders who are applauding their effort.

To me, this is the greatest victory. People might start looking at Angola in a new light. What they will see is a nation and a people that has the same heart and the same spirit as their football team.

Look out world. The 2010 World Cup will be played in our backyard. I hope to see you there.

May you all live safe, wonderful and joyous lives.

Until next time,

I am Pasha

Tags: Group B, World Cup 2006

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Comments

By Luis | June 22nd, 2006 at 12:13 am

Portugal is proud of you too. Great tournament for Angola. Things can only get better for this tough team.

Posted from United States

By Dido | June 22nd, 2006 at 12:56 am

Thank you for covering the Angolan team Pasha, it was fun discussing about our team at the WC. See you in 2010!

Posted from United Kingdom

By Neil | June 22nd, 2006 at 1:39 am

Great resulsts Angola, kept Mexico at a draw and only lost with one goal difference from Portugal.
A great achievement and Angola has shown the world they can play football and they can use this experience to build on to the future.

Good luck next WC, Angola, there’s a great football future ahead of you.

Posted from Netherlands

By Joka | June 22nd, 2006 at 3:41 am

Good work Pasha

By Paul | June 22nd, 2006 at 7:08 am

Of course its a fabulous achievement- but you try to achieve the most that you can with the situation you are given- And the situation Angola were given was with 30 minutes to play after scoring- they knew they would have to score at least another 2 or 3 with a place in the last 16 in sight- a possibilty, but they sat back contented with ‘their achievement’ - just because “they didn’t expect to get this far” -?-what sort of attitude is that? oh I am so frustrated! This is my email to a friend who’s in Germany- which shows my frustration,:

Have you any news on this - ie: why? Did you see it?

I had an appointment the next morning & having been up all nite the previous nite- I was tempted to go to bed and watch it sometime the next day- but I thought - I’ll watch the first game- Mexico are a bit fragile- see what happens- so (SBS showed Mex V Por first) - Mexico play hard - Portugal play well- Portugal end up winning- so I think well- Angola have a real chance against the poorest nation in the group- I’m not going to bed when history could be made- this may have been their plan - keep hanging in thru the tournament- then hopefully there’s still a chance in the last game- which is the most winnable. For the 1st half- they still played with 9 men behind ball- Akwa like the previous 2 games- left up front on his own- then pretty much the same in 2nd half- I’m thinking - well they are trying to make sure they get a hold of the game & have a real go in the last half. Akwa gets injured goes off- they have a guy who looked really good off the bench who plays for Benfica- very fast & incisive- Mantorras. He didn’t come on- another guy-Flavio came on - and amazingly scored in the 6oth minute- so they now have 30 minutes - thats HALF AN HOUR, Tim to score 2 goals (I know they wouldn’t have known exactly how much they needed- but they would’ve known- if there was achance- they would’ve needed to win by 2 or 3.

Then they pretty much still sat back- then let Iran score. It was the most extraordinary thing I’ve ever seen- a place is sitting there for them to take in the last 16- and they put players behind the ball - as if to say - its our first World Cup- we’re happy with what we’ve achieved!- we’re happy to go home. They got a few corners in the last 15 minutes- they STILL ONLY PUSHED 5 PLAYERS up for the corner- then in the last 10 minutes when they’re crazy keeper had the ball — he was time-wasting- waiting for the Iranian forward to rush at him- before he picked up the ball- I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. I went to bed totally demoralised & sick of World Cup 2006- If you don’t want to progress/win matches- TELL US - or dont come!

I then had to get up 4 hours later for my appointment- as you can tell - I am still in shock & demoralised.

Any news on this over there- Any light to shed from coach etc?

Posted from Australia

By Tom | June 22nd, 2006 at 12:11 pm

I was disappointed as well Paul. The coach seemed to have other plans on his mind- Even the players couldnt understand. Akwa said before the match that he needed help upfront but claimed that the coach wouldnt changed the formation.

Posted from United Kingdom

By NADER KARDAN | June 22nd, 2006 at 1:15 pm

سلام .ما همگی از بازی بسیار ضعیف تیم ملی ایران ناراحت هستیم .
ولی افسوس که ناراحتی در حال حاضر هیچ فایده ای ندارد. باید همگی دست به دست هم دهیم و به امید فردایی روشن دوباره از تیم ملی فوتبال ایران حمایت کنیم.
حمایت ما از تیم ملی کشورمان است و این حمایت به این معنی نیست که ما از اشخاص خاصی مثل مربی و بازیکنان حمایت می کنیم
حمایت ما فقط از نام تیم ملی فوتبال ایران است
به امید موفقیت ایران در آینده و سر بلندی همه ایرانیان
http://www.bachehayebad.parsiblog.com

لینک مربوط به عکس هموطنان عزیز در حمایت کشورمان
http://www.farsnews.com/pic.php?ph=Media-8503-ImageReports-8503100585-6_8503100585_L600.jpg&dsc=تماشاگران%20فوتبال%20ايران%20و%20بوسني

Posted from United Kingdom

By Al | June 22nd, 2006 at 1:45 pm

Given that Angola were touted as the worst team in the tournament - a good performance after all. The coach knew Angola didnt have the resources to play like Argentina - so he used what he had - the Angolan defence had been weak previously - so preventing goals was a priority. Losing the main striker through injury was a big loss - I would assume that the coach thought a win against Iran would do - as Portugal should have scored a lot against a Mexican team down to 10 players. Sadly that didnt work out.

Qualification for the finals was an achievment - going out having lost only 1 game (and that to one of the ptre-tournament favourites is fantastic!

Well done Pasha - I have enjoyed reading your coverage. I’ll have to support Ghana now!

Posted from United Kingdom

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