Angola’s national football team head coach, Pedro Valdemar Soares Gonçalves, says he is highly optimistic that the Palancas Negras will qualify for the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, which will be the 35h edition of the biennial African football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football, will be hosted by Morocco and will be played between 21 December 2025 and 18 January 2026.
Angola is in group F and will be battling with Ghana, Niger and Sudan for a place in the final tournament.
The Palancas Negras, will be playing their first game of the qualifiers at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium on Thursday 5th September, 2024 when they play away to the Black Stars of Ghana.
The Angola national team has faced challenges in recent years, but under the guidance of Soares, the team has shown signs of improvement. With a strong squad and a determined coach, Angola is poised to make a splash in the upcoming AFCON qualification rounds.
In an interview with the media, Pedro Valdemar Soares Gonçalves, stated that his side is poised to make its 10th AFCON appearance and hopes that the team can make a statement at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium when they face the Black Stars of Ghana.
“At the end of the 6 journey, we get the ticket for Morocco but in the first journey, we have a big challenge ahead of us but we believe we can get points in Ghana, this is our job, this is our mentality and we will try our best against Ghana.
“In the last time unfortunately we lost at the last stages of the match, the atmosphere at the stadium was wonderful, the people in the stands didn’t vouched for us but I appreciate it because everybody prior to the match did a very good work and it was very exciting.” He said.
Pedro Valdemar, raised concerns over the nature of the pitch but says he is hopeful the pitch will be in good shape come Thursday.
“I am concerned about the pitch but I know they are working really hard to recover the pitch and I think it is good for both teams because both national teams like to play football. Ghana National team has players from high level and we also have the same so we have to have good pitch to play on.” He said
The game between Ghana and Angola will kickstart at 4:00pm Ghana time.
Source:elvisanokyenews.com