The State of Play
Angola have enjoyed an extremely impressive Africa Cup of Nations group stage. Playing a more proactive and front foot style of football under Pedro Goncalves, Angola won their group by sharing a 1-1 draw with one of the pre-tournament favourites, Algeria, before back-to-back victories against Mauritania and Burkina Faso, scoring five goals in those two matches.
They now take on a Namibian side that, coached by former Hamburg defender Collin Benjamin, won their first ever match at an AFCON tournament as they shocked Tunisia by a goal to nil with a late winner. They were then hammered 3-0 by South Africa but managed to squeeze through to the Round of 16 by holding Mali to a goalless draw on Wednesday evening.
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Team News
Pedro Goncalves is likely to name an unchanged eleven for their Round of 16 clash with Namibia but he may be tempted to make a couple of changes with Cagliari’s Zito Luvumbo and Clermont’s Jeremie Bela potentially replacing the likes of Gilberto and Gelson Dala.
Collin Benjamin is missing key defender Ryan Nyambe due to injury and the former Blackburn Rovers right-back is also set to be missing this first ever AFCON knockout match for the Namibians.
Expected Line-ups
Angola: Neblu; Eddie, Gaspar, Kinito, To Carneiro; Fredy, Bruno Paz, Estrela; Gilberto, Mabululu, Gelson Dala
Namibia: Kazapua; Kamberipa, Amutenya, Haukongo, Hanamub; Petrus; Muzeu, Tjiueza, Katua, Hotto; Shalulile
What they Said
In the build-up to the tournament, Angolan boss Pedro Goncalves suggested there were no limits to how far his side could go in this competition. “We will see where our performance and capacity will take us to but I believe we can qualify from the group and try to win the knockout phase. If you do that then you have the ability to go to the finals. Let’s see.”
Collin Benjamin said ‘we were never really given a chance’ in the aftermath of their shock defeat of Tunisia last week and the Namibians will continue to aim to surprise the continent in the knockouts.
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at Stade de la Paix at 17:00 on Saturday January 27th with the game being televised live on Sky Sports in the UK. It will be streamed live on the Sky Go app.
Prediction
Angola would not necessarily have expected to be the overwhelming favourites in a Round of 16 tie at this competition but they very much are. They are playing some of the more easy on the eye football at this tournament and now face a side that scored just one goal in the group stages. Whilst Namibia have captured the imagination thus far, this would appear to be a real step up and an Angolan win, with a clean sheet too, seems likely.
