Angola vs. Portugal
FIFA World Cup, Group D
Sunday, June 11th 2006

The Angolan national soccer team, nicknamed Palancas Negras, ("Black
Impalas") is controlled by the Federa$(D????(Bo Angolana de Futebol. On
October 8, 2005, Angola qualified for the World Cup for the first time
ever.
Luis Oliveira Goncalves took over as coach of the Angola national
soccer team in 2003, after successful appearances with the Angolan
Under-20 national soccer team. The coach is the nation's favorite and
the team managed to finish in first place of Group 4 Soccer World Cup
2006 (qualification), ahead of traditional African soccer powers like
the Nigeria national soccer team and the Zimbabwe national soccer team.
Group 4 was considered one of the toughest during the qualifying bouts.

Captain Fabrice Akwa scored some crucial goals, including the winners
against Rwanda in the last game; in the game against the Nigeria
national soccer team. Akwa is the fans' favorite having scored 30 goals
in 67 international appearances. "This is the first time we are in the
finals and we want to show off our football. We also want to show there
is more to Angola than just war and oil," Akwa said.
Angola's best known player is the striker Pedro Mantorras, who plays
for the Portuguese team Benfica, favorite in Sportsbook odds almost
always in their national league.
The Portugal national soccer team is controlled by the Portuguese
Football Federation (FPF).
Portugal has never won any major competition at senior level only
qualifying four times for the World Cup. Their first World Cup
appearance was in 1966 where the Portuguese gave their best performance
ever. In that year they reached the semifinals and lost only to the
eventual world champions England. Portugal finished in third place and
Eus$(D??(Bbio was considered the best player of the tournament.
The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup were for the
1986 and 2002 World Cup competitions with Portugal going out in the
first round both times. Now they have also qualified for the 2006 World
Cup in Germany.
In order to improve their performance the Portuguese Football
Federation decided to hire Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian who had
led the Brazil International team to win the World Cup 2002. Later
Scolari led Portugal to the final of Euro 2004 (The European
Championships), where they lost to Greece.
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