Soccer in Angola

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Logo of the Federação Angolana de Futebol

Soccer is the most popular sport in Angola . The country had been a Portuguese colony since the late 15th century. And so it was the Portuguese who popularized football here. Football in Angola is still shaped by its Portuguese origins and relationships, for example through a number of branches of the Portuguese clubs Benfica Lisbon and Sporting Lisbon . Many Angolan footballers also play internationally, especially in Portugal , but also in France , but mostly in lower leagues.

The national football association of Angola is the Federação Angolana de Futebol (FAF). It was founded in 1979, after Angola's independence from Portugal in 1975. The FAF organizes the national soccer leagues Girabola (1st division) and Gira Angola (2nd division) and is also responsible for the Angolan men's and women's national team .

The country hosted the 2010 African Cup of Nations.

Club football (men)

League operation

A national champion has been played in a league operation in Angola since 1965 at the latest. The record champions in Portuguese times were the Club Atlético de Luanda , founded in 1953 , with the championship titles of 1965, 1966, 1967 and 1968. In Angola, the Girabola has been a top national league since 1979, with the Gira Angola being a three-pronged second national division League is run. This is followed by the top league of the provincial associations of the 18 provinces of Angola , under which the other regional leagues are played.

The 1st League (Girabola)

Main article: Girabola

The 2nd league (Gira Angola)

The Gira Angola is the second highest division in Angolan football. The league is also known colloquially as Segundona . It was organized for the first time in 1995 as a uniform national competition by the FAF. Between 2007 and 2009, the second division was reduced from three to two groups. In 2009 it was then named Gira Angola and has since been played again in three groups, the Série A to C. The season takes place from June to October of the year. In the end, the winner of each series moves up to the first division, the Girabola. Since 2011, among the three group winners, at the end of the season in November, the winners of the Gira Angola have been played in an everyone-against-everyone tournament.

Cup competitions

Since 1980, officially since 1982, the Taça de Angola has been an official national cup. Masters and cup winners also play a Supercup with the Super Taça de Angola .

The men's national team

Angolan fans at the 2006 World Cup
Main article: Angolan national football team

The Angola's men's national team qualified for a world championship for the first time in 2006 . After being able to prevail against the Chadian national team in the first qualifying group only through the away goals rule (1: 3 away defeat, 2: 0 home win), they took first place in Group D in the second round. They sat down against the national teams Rwanda , Algeria , Gabon , Zimbabwe and Nigeria . The second-placed Nigerians with equal points had the better goal difference compared to Angola, but the direct comparison that the Palancas Negras won with a 1-0 home win and a 1-1 draw in Nigeria counted .

In the group draw for the World Cup , Angola was drawn in Group D together with Portugal , Mexico and Iran . After a 0: 1 against Portugal, a 0: 0 against Mexico and a 1: 1 against Iran, they were eliminated from the tournament as third party. The team sold well in the games and was particularly convincing on the defensive. Angola's only goal at the World Cup and the first ever to be scored by Flávio .

The selection won the South African Championship three times and made it to the quarter-finals of the African Championship twice : in Ghana in 2008 and at home in Angola in 2010 .

African Cup of Nations 2010

COCAN 2010 Angola Logo.svg
Main article: 2010 African Cup of Nations

On September 4, 2006, the African Football Association CAF announced that the 2010 African Championship will be awarded to Angola. Four new stadiums were built especially for the African Cup of Nations: the Estádio 11 de Novembro in Luanda , which holds 50,000 spectators , the Estádio Nacional de Ombaka in Benguela, and the Estádio Nacional de Chiazi in Cabinda and the Estádio Nacional da Tundavala in Lubango , which each 20,000 spectators.

When the group draw were Mali , Algeria and Malawi the Group A drawn against. Angola was set to host this group as the group head.

Women's soccer

Club soccer

Women's football in Angola generally suffers from a lack of attention, also from associations and clubs. There are hardly any multi-tier league structures, and due to the lack of youth classes it is not uncommon for 12-year-old girls and almost 40-year-old women to meet in a game. There is a lack of football training opportunities for women, so that an aging population and thus an end to women's football in Angola threatens.

Organized games by women's soccer teams have been known in Angola since 1993, and since 1995 the Campeonato Provincial de Luanda has been a league operation in Angola, limited to the province of Luanda . The first national women's club championship took place in 1997, as a tournament in the city of Lubango . The title went to Blocos FC from the capital Luanda. A regular championship has been organized by the FAF since 2005. The record champion of the provincial championship Luanda, the Progresso do Sambizanga , has since dominated events in national women's football in Angola with five national titles. In addition to Progresso, the Amigas dos Mártires de Kifangondo club from Luanda is one of the strongest teams, with the ultimately unsuccessful appearance at the national championship tournament in Luena in 2008. The only other competitive teams are Regedoria FC de Viana from Viana and the Clube Desportivo da Terra Nova . Terra Nova is the only club that has a second team and a football school for young women. Besides these four clubs, the other clubs usually have no chance due to a lack of structures and talented players.

In total, championships are held in only three Angolan provinces : in the province of Cunene , in the province of Huíla and in particular in the province of Luanda . Occasionally tournaments take place or took place in the other provinces, especially in the provinces of Bié , Benguela and Cabinda .

The national championship ( Campeonato Nacional ) has always been played in a central tournament, but not held every year. No champions have been played since 2011. The following national championships have so far been played in Angola's women's football:

year venue winner Final opponent Result
1997 Lubango Blocos FC Desportivo da Expresso 2: 1
2005 Lubango Progresso do Sambizanga Amigas dos Martires de Kifangondo 1-0
2006 Huambo Progresso do Sambizanga Clube Desportivo da Terra Nova 3: 2
2007 Luanda Progresso do Sambizanga Clube Desportivo da Terra Nova 3-0
2008 Luena Progresso do Sambizanga Grupo Desportivo Fagec 2: 1
2011 Lubango not known not known -

With the Taça Sílvia Cabral , a national cup is also played annually. With 11 titles, Progresso do Sambizanga is also the record champion, followed by Regedoria FC de Viana and Desportivo da Expresso with two trophies each (as of 2012).

The women's national team

Main article: Angolan women's national soccer team

The Angola's women's national team has not yet qualified for any World Cup or Olympic tournament. So far, she has participated in the African Championship four times. The greatest success is the reaching of the semi-finals at the women's African Cup of Nations in 1995 .

Web links

Commons : Soccer in Angola  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Interview with the coach of the women's team from Progresso Zambizanga from October 10, 2011 in the Angolan sports newspaper Jornal dos Desportos , accessed on January 5, 2015
  2. ↑ Article of December 18, 2008 of the Angolan news portal angolabelazebelo.com, accessed on January 5, 2015
  3. ↑ List of the Angolan national champions in women's football on the RSSSF website , accessed on January 5, 2015
  4. ↑ List of winners in the women's cup competition in Angola on the RSSSF website, accessed on January 5, 2015