Angola Gears Up for 2025 COSAFA Cup with Focus on Offensive Strategy

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Luanda: The National Team began its preparations for the COSAFA Cup in football, from June 4 to 15, in South Africa, on Monday (26) in Luanda, with combined attacks at the 11 de Novembro stadium.



According to Angola Press News Agency, in about 1h30, 12 athletes out of the 31 players called up, practiced out combined attacking moves with and without the help of fixed barriers. At another point in the session, coach Pedro Gon§alves divided the athletes into groups to practice counter-attacks. He recommended calm and a lot of creativity in the executions.



The training session already included two players performing in Portugal, namely Keliano Manuel (Estrela da Amadora) and Pedro Bondo (Famalico), with the other 9 expected to arrive from 29th onwards. Gilberto ‘Gibel©’, Hossi, Vidinho, Pedro Agostinho, Il­dio Panda (all from Petro de Luanda), Al©m, Rui, Caica Leonel Cambuta (all from Interclube) and Joca (Desportivo da Lunda-Sul) were part of the session.



The three footballers called up for observation, from the Under-17s, namely Marcos and Lucas Luwawu, both from AFA – Angola Football Academy, and Gelson Dala (Petro de Luanda), also participated. At the internal level, Neblº and Mabel© (both from 1.° de Agosto), Mindinho (Kabuscorp do Palanca), Sami and Higino (both from FC Bravos do Maquis) were absent.



The squad also includes goalkeepers Agostinho Calunga (Wiliete de Benguela) and Dominique (Etoile Carouge from Switzerland). Defenders Jonathan Buatu (Gil Vicente from Portugal) and Gaspar (Pau from France) are part of the team. The midfielders include Aguinaldo Matias (1.º de Agosto), Hossi (Petro de Luanda), Show (Dallas FC from the USA), and Randy Nteka (Rayo Vallecano from Spain). Forwards Zine (AEK Athens from Greece), Gibel© (Petro de Luanda), Milson (Crvena Zvezda from Serbia), Chico Banza (Estrela Amadora from Portugal), Il­dio Panda (Petro de Luanda), Kaporal (Wiliete de Benguela), Depu (Volvodina from Serbia), and L©pua (Sagrada Esperan§a from Lunda-Norte) complete the lineup.



In the COSAFA Cup, Angola, which is seeking to retain the title won in 2024 Edition, is in group B, with its counterparts from Namibia and Malawi.