Angola

Germany 2006 was Angola's first World Cup finals appearance, but they got there the hard way. They almost didn't qualify for the qualifiers - against huge underdogs Chad they lost 3-1 away, and after this they lost their manager.

However, in the second leg, their captain, Fabrice Akwa led them to a 2-0 victory, and Angola went through on away goals.

Angola World Cup profile continues below

Angola were in Group 4 of African qualifying, which contained teams like Nigeria and Zimbabwe. However, in the early matches they showed everyone that they could play very well at home.

They managed to return from Nigeria with a point, and in the return fixture they managed to scrape a 1-0 win setting them up nicely to go through. In the end they finished level on points with the Nigerians but went through on the head to head rule.

Their manager, Luis Oliveira Goncalves, was very popular with the fans, and some people were pleading that he be offered a lifelong contract. Angola were very strong at home, which will not help them, however, in Germany.

Angola were ranked 62nd in the world.

In their opening game they narrowly lost to Portugal 1-0, however they kept a clean sheet in their second game where they drew 0-0 with Mexico.

Angola were unlucky not to qualify having allowed Iran to equalise and the final score of 1-1 in the Angola-Iran game allowed Mexico to take the second place spot.

Angola Squad:

Player Club Position Caps Goals
Joao Ricardo G 24 0
Lama Petro Atletico G 9 0
Mario Interclube G 0 0
M Airosa Barreirense D 1 0
L Delgado Petro Atletico D 15 0
Jamba AS Aviacaoi D 33 0
Kali Barreirense D 19 0
A Lebo-Lebo Petro Atletico D 15 0
Loco Primeiro de Agosto D 9 0
Marco Abreu Portimonense D 2 0
Rui Marques D 1 0
Edson Nobre Pacos Ferreira M 5 0
P Figueiredo Varzim M 20 2
A Macanga Al Kuwait M 31 0
Mateus Gil Vicente M 2 2
Mendonca Varzim M 32 3
Miloy Interclube M 10 0
Ze Kalanga Petro Atletico M 21 4
Akwa F 75 35
F Amado Al Ahly F 45 13
Buengo Titi Andre Clermont F 1 0
Love AS Aviacaoi F 34 5
Mantorras Benfica F 9 3

Angola World Cup profile by Ben Rosenbaum