Goncalves: Photo Credit: Angola Football Federation.
After sealing the 2025 African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals berth, Angola coach Pedro Goncalves has urged his Palancas Neras to aim for even more at the forthcoming tournament.
Goncalves said this after Angola survived a home 0-1 loss to Lesotho and qualified for the CHAN finals 2-1 on aggregate after beating Lesotho 2-0 away in South Africa in the second round, second leg match.
Reacting to the fifth CHAN qualification via his Facebook page, Goncalves challenged Angola to aim even higher. “Proud of the boys for their hard work and qualifying for the Final of CHAN 2025. Let's go for more, Palancas,” he said.
Earlier, the Portuguese mentor also celebrated the strides Angola was making on the Coca-Cola FIFA rankings following qualification to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals.
“It's a great pride to see Angola featured on the FIFA portal as the team that climbed the most places in 2024. My sincere thanks to my technical team, to all the players who were part of this magical year, to all the staff who work so hard for the selection and, of course, to all the Angolans for your tireless support,” Goncalves added.
Lesotho’s Likuena won the second round, second leg match via Hlompho Kalake’s goal from the penalty spot with two minutes remaining to the break in Luanda.
However, the visitors’ goal was not enough as the Palancas Negras had won the away leg through goals from Megue and Kaporal.
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