The Angolan football coach, Portuguese Pedro Gonçalves, expressed on Thursday his desire to defeat Nigeria, led by compatriot José Peseiro, in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) on Friday and to claim the championship. During a press conference, the Portuguese coach acknowledged the challenging nature of the task due to Nigeria’s potential, which boasts three continental titles compared to Angola, which has never advanced beyond the quarter-finals.
“For us, it’s a great opportunity to face Nigeria tomorrow (Friday), an African powerhouse, a worthy representative of African football on a global level, given all the participations it has had in World Cups,” he said.
Pedro Gonçalves stated that they will be “playing against an extremely powerful team” but approach the game “with the perspective of an opportunity that was earned with a lot of hard work, sweat, resilience, and determination.”
“Up to this point, we’ve passed several milestones and overcome various barriers, and we said that, reaching the quarter-finals, our ambition is to be immortal, and being immortal is reaching the final and winning it,” he asserted.
Nigerian coach José Peseiro also admitted that it won’t be an easy game for his team, saying, “It’s a pleasure to play against a brotherly country.”
“I congratulate Angola for the work they have done, their players, their coach, and certainly their structure. We know the Angola team, we know the players, we know their value, their quality, we know their ability to sacrifice, their discipline; it’s a team that defends and is very solidary,” he stated.
While expressing respect for Angola, Peseiro emphasized the mutual desire to win, stating, “We want to win just as Angola wants to win, we are confident, and we know it will be a difficult, tough, and highly emotional game, but we want to win.”
The two teams have faced each other 12 times, with a slight advantage for the Nigerians who have won three times against two victories for the Angolans, and seven draws. Their last encounter was in 2018 during the African Nations Championship (CHAN), where Nigeria won 2-1.
Angola will face Nigeria on Friday in the quarter-finals of the 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations at the Félix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Abidjan, starting at 17:00.
