Angola coach says African football will show the world... one day

Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves, seen here watching his squad from the sidelines, predicted that African football was on the march after his minnows completed a World Cup campaign that defied all expectations.

Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves predicted that African football was on the march after his minnows completed a World Cup campaign that defied all expectations.

The southern African nation, which only emerged from civil war in 2002, qualified for their first appearance in a World Cup finals while the big guns of their continent - Nigeria, Senegal and Cameroon - were all left to watch the tournament at home.

Angola were tipped as one of the World Cup's whipping boys, and thrashings by Group D rivals Portugal and Mexico were widely predicted.

But if a narrow 1-0 defeat to Euro 2004 finalists Portugal established their credentials, they came of age in a heroic goalless draw with Mexico as more than 100,000 people celebrated in the streets of the Angolan capital, Luanda.

The team of journeymen professionals, whose best players cannot even find a club, could even have sneaked into the second round if they had beaten Iran by three clear goals.

Eventually an Iranian side desperate to avoid returning home to an unforgiving public with three defeats in a row held the Angolans to a 1-1 draw and ended their hopes.

Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves, seen here watching his squad from the sidelines, predicted that African football was on the march after his minnows completed a World Cup campaign that defied all expectations.

Oliveira Goncalves said the fact that his team had reached their first finals was a positive sign for the continent.

"African football is progressing. We know that we can do more than we are doing now and each time we take part in a tournament it shows that we have to improve our infrastructure, our organisation and our training of young players.

"But one day the world will realise Africa has a name to defend and it will defend its reputation," he said.

However the coach was also quick to acknowledge that basic lapses in defending cost Angola a memorable victory - a defender failing to cover a post allowed Iran's Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh to equalise Flavio's goal.

"We were not able to play our normal, counter-attacking game today. Iran just kept coming at us.

"I am proud of the way my players performed. Iran have been in three World Cups but this was our first.

"We have every reason to be proud. We will leave with our heads held high."

Flavio, assured of a place in history as the scorer of his country's first ever World Cup goal, said the team were satisified that they had given the best possible account of themselves.

"It was very good for us to show that Angola can play good football," said the striker who plays for African Champions Cup winners Al Ahly of Egypt.

Meanwhile, for the team's two outstanding players, Akwa and goalkeeper Joao Ricardo, the bright lights of the World Cup will fade as they go in search of a club.

They have surely done enough to catch a new employer's eye.