Angola

At their sixth attempt, Angola have finally succeeded in qualifying for a World Cup. Having first lined up to compete for a place at football's global gathering on a July night in 1984 - in the preliminary competition for Mexico 86 - the Angolan national team's longing has finally been satisfied after 21 years.

Drawn in Group 4 of the African Zone, Angola narrowly succeeded in snatching the sole ticket from beneath the noses of the all-powerful Nigerians. Angolan captain Akwa, formerly of Benfica and now plying his trade in Qatar, may have struck just three goals during the entire qualifying campaign, but all of them proved crucial and his influence has been undeniable. A scorer in the preliminary round against Chad, he struck the all-important winner over Nigeria in Luanda. It was this strike that, in the final analysis, secured top spot in the group for Angola.

However, Akwa's place in the annals of Angolan football history is primarily assured by the imperious header he buried in the back of the Rwandan net in Kigali. The Angola team he spearheads may be a touch short on stars, but every last one of them played an important part in qualification. Key contributors like the excellent Benfica forward Mantorras, Figueirido, Joao Pereira, the twinkle-toed Maurito and Ze Kalanga can all be justifiably proud.

Furthermore, their achievements are a testament to the know-how of coach Goncalves, the 'miracle man' of Angolan football. He secured qualification for Germany 2006 with a squad that includes a significant number of players he led to the African Under-20 title and the second round of the FIFA World Youth Championship in 2001. Now, hardcore Angolan fans are calling for their saviour to be offered a lifetime contract.

Their hero on the pitch, Akwa, as well as having a nose for decisive goals, also displays quite a way with words in splendidly summing up the great Angolan adventure: "We have proved that Angola is not just about oil, war and poverty."

Coach: Luis Oliveira Gonclaves
FIFA Ranking: 61

Angola Matches

Match #	Date & Time	Group	Teams		Result	Venue
8	Sun 11th Jun 21:00	D	ANG	POR	0 - 1	Cologne
23	Fri 16th Jun 21:00	D	MEX	ANG	0 - 0	Hanover
40	Wed 21st Jun 16:00	D	IRN	ANG	1 - 1	Leipzig

Match times shown are local times for Germany (CEST/GMT+0200). Click on match date/time to view match statistics.

Past World Cup performance

First appearance at a World Cup Finals competition

Key Players

Akwa
Ze Kalanga
Joao Pereira

World Cup 2006 Qualification

Angola qualified as winners of African Group 4, ahead of Nigeria and Algeria.

Squad

						Total		World Cup 2006
#	Posn	Name	DOB	Club		Caps	Goals	Pld	Goals	OG	YC	RC
1	GK	Ricardo Joao	07-01-1970			30	0	3	0	0	1	0
2	DF	Airosa Marcos	06-08-1984	Barreirense	POR	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF	Jamba Joao	10-07-1977	AS Aviacao	ANG	39	0	3	0	0	1	0
4	DF	Lebo Lebo Antonio	29-05-1977	Petro Atletico	ANG	15	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	DF	Kali Carlos	11-10-1978	Barreirense	POR	25	0	3	0	0	0	0
6	MF	Miloy Marcos	27-05-1981	Interclube	ANG	15	0	3	0	0	0	0
7	MF	Figueiredo Paulo	28-11-1972	Varzim	POR	26	2	3	0	0	0	0
8	MF	Macanga Andre	14-05-1978	Al Kuwait	KUW	36	0	2	0	0	2	1
9	FW	Mantorras Pedro Manuel	18-03-1982	Benfica	POR	14	3	2	0	0	0	0
10	FW	Akwa Fabrice	30-05-1977			81	36	3	0	0	0	0
11	MF	Mateus Andre	07-03-1983	Gil Vicente	POR	8	2	3	0	0	0	0
12	GK	Lama Joao Mamona	01-02-1981	Petro Atletico	ANG	9	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	MF	Edson Nobre	02-03-1980	Pacos Ferreira	POR	9	0	1	0	0	0	0
14	MF	Mendonca Antonio	09-10-1982	Varzim	POR	38	3	3	0	0	1	0
15	DF	Rui Marques Manuel	03-09-1977	Hull City	ENG	3	0	2	0	0	0	0
16	FW	Flavio Amado	30-12-1979	Al Ahly	EGY	47	14	1	1	0	0	0
17	MF	Ze Kalanga Jose	12-10-1983	Petro Atletico	ANG	27	4	3	0	0	2	0
18	FW	Love Arsenio	14-03-1979	AS Aviacao	ANG	36	6	1	0	0	0	0
19	FW	Buengo Titi	11-02-1980	Clermont	FRA	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	DF	Loco Manuel	25-12-1984	Primeiro de Agosto	ANG	15	0	3	0	0	2	0
21	DF	Delgado Luis	01-11-1979	Petro Atletico	ANG	21	0	3	0	0	1	0
22	GK	Mario Hipolito	01-06-1985	Interclube	ANG	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	DF	Marco Abreu	08-12-1974	Portimonense	POR	3	0	0	0	0	0	0