Luanda — Angolans living in Namibia are to gather at Windhoek Town Hall located at the Independence Avenue in the Namibian capital, to support the national team in Friday's quarter-final match with Nigeria, in the African Cup of Nations (AFCON'2023) taking place in Côte d'Ivoire.

According to a note which ANGOP had access to, Angola's ambassador to that country, Juvelina Imperial, states that Angolans will gather to watch the match, a way of expressing their patriotism and pride, even from far away from their Angolan homeland.

In view of the match, scheduled for 6pm at the Félix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in the city of Abidjan, Angolans along with Namibians will give their unconditional support to the Angolan team.

"After Angola's victory over Namibia (3-0) in the round of 16, the Angolans want to return to the streets of Windhoek and at the Angolan Embassy to sing the National Anthem, as a force of love for their homeland and with the qualification to the semi-finals," says the ambassador's note.

It recalls the euphoric way in which Angolan citizens celebrated the victory over Namibia, even in heavy rain, without anyone giving up.

Since Angola's first participation in the final phase of the AFCON, the biggest competition of nations organised by Confederation of African Football (CAF), in 1996 in South Africa, Angola have never managed to reach the semi-finals.

The best Angola managed so far was to reach the quarter-finals in Ghana (2008), as well as Angola (2010), when the competition was contested by 16 teams and without the round of 16 stage.

In this edition, with 24 teams taking part and with the inclusion of the round of 16 stage, Angola once again reached the quarter-finals, which is a recognition of the players' efforts, given the number of difficulties.

AFCON'2023 was supposed to take place last June/July, but due to the heavy rains during that period, CAF moved the event to this year.

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