Angola: Afro Cups - Angolan Football Teams Play for Group Stage Places

28 September 2023
Angola Press Agency (Luanda)

Luanda — The four Angolan representatives in competitions under the aegis of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) will decide this weekend on qualification for the group stage of the two main club competitions.

Petro de Luanda and 1.º de Agosto teams will play for (Champions League), Académica do Lobito and Sagrada Esperança, who are competing for access to the Confederation Cup (Nelson Mandela).

Petro de Luanda Football team (national champions) are in a privileged position to reach the next stage, due to the 2-1 win in the first leg over União Desportiva do Songo de Moçambique.

The Angolan champions will have to be more cautious in their approach to the game, so as not to be taken by surprise by their opponents, who have more competitive experience.

The Mozambicans have played a greater number of official matches in their country's championship, unlike the hosts, who still have an indefinite date for the opening of the 2023/24 football season.

The match will be played on Saturday (3pm) at the Tundavala stadium in Lubango City, Angola's southern Huila province.

While, 1.º de Agosto football team, the national runners-up, have a tough task when they travel to Marrakesh (Kingdom of Morocco), home of Sudan's Al-Hilal Omdurwan.

The match is scheduled for Sunday at 7pm.

After the 0-0 draw in the first leg in Huila province, the Angolans are likely to go in with a different attacking stance in an attempt to overcome this "colossus" of African football, who have successively won the Afro Cups.

The Angolans are also regulars in continental competitions, with the highlight being their excellent performance in 2018, when they were eliminated by Esperance de Tunis in the semi-finals, in a controversial game with alleged bias on the part of the refereeing team.

In the first round, in Luanda, 1.º de Agosto won 1-0, while in the second round they lost 2-4 in Tunisia in the semi-finals.

In the Confederation Cup, Académica do Lobito (beaten finalists in the Angolan Cup) will host South Sudan's Al-Merreikh at Tundavala on Sunday for the second leg, after a goalless draw in the first match in Nairobi (Kenya).

Playing on their home, despite being based outside their home province (Benguela), the Academica do Lobito FC, with a young team, are in perfect condition to reach the group stage for the first time.

In the first round, Académica beat La Passe FC from the Seychelles.

In the same competition, Lunda-Norte's Sagrada Esperança, third in the previous Girabola, host Mozambique's Ferroviário de Maputo.

In the first leg, in the Mozambican capital, the Lundas lost 0-1, a result they can overcome here in Angola if they manage to correct the mistakes they made on the opposing ground.

Angolan football teams are expected to behave differently in this final qualifying round for the group stage.FN/DAN/DOJ

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