Lisbon: Angola’s senior men’s national handball team began the second phase of preparation for the African Championship on Thursday afternoon in Lisbon, Portugal. The championship will take place from January 21 to 31 in Rwanda.

According to Angola Press News Agency, while in the Portuguese capital, where they will train until January 18, the team has scheduled five friendly matches. The first is on Saturday against Grupo Desportivo guas Santas. Led by Filipe Cruz, the team will also play two matches against the Cape Verde national team and against Portugal’s FC Porto and ABC league teams.

At the African Championship, Angola aims to finish in the top five. This ranking grants access to the 2027 World Championship in Germany, according to Jos© do Amaral, president of the Angolan Handball Federation. Angola is in Group B with Egypt, Gabon, and Uganda. Uganda will be their first opponent on January 21.

During their last participation in the championship in Egypt in 2024, the team finished eighth out of sixteen participants. Here is the team: Goalkeepers: Giovani Muachissengue, Ariel Silva, and Paulo Gonga. Center-backs: Gabriel Sebastio, Rom© Hebo, S©rgio Figueiredo, and Dickson Caiuco. Right-backs: Manuel Domingos, Adelino Pestana, Joaquim Manuel, and Jos© Chicola. Left-backs: Rºben Jos©, Evaristo Manuel, and Reginaldo Domingos. Right wingers Cl¡udio Chicola and Ariel Sousa and left wingers Erivaldo Almeida and Nelson Pedro complete the group.

Egypt is the defending champion, and Tunisia leads with 10 overall titles, followed by Egypt with nine and Algeria with seven.