With this victory, the Angolans, who scored the first two goals through ex-Sporting and Rio Ave player Gelson Dala, at 38 and 42, in addition to once again making history in the African competition, reconfirmed their superiority over the Namibians, whom they beat for the eighth time in history, against zero victories for those now defeated.
Despite playing reduced to 10 after 17 minutes, due to the expulsion of goalkeeper Neblú, after making a cut with his hands outside the area, during a dangerous counterattack by the Namibians, Angola did not allow itself to be inhibited by the numerical superiority of the opposing team, which, in the 40th minute, also saw central defender Lubeni Haukongo sent off for dangerous play.
After the first two goals, the Angolans began to dominate the game, destroying the previously existing balance, and demonstrated an enormous ability to contain the ball, accurate passes and counterattacks.
In the second half, the Namibians went very offensive, looking to recover the result, with successive counterattacks and shots at the Angolan goal, frustrated attempts, given the Angolans' third goal, against the run of play, through Mabululu, at 66 minutes.
In the remaining minutes, Angola, which became the first team to qualify for the 'quarters', limited itself to circulating the ball, amid a compact defense, until the match referee's final whistle.
The Angolans are thus able to equal their best result in the African Cup of Nations, having also reached the quarter-finals in 2008 and 2010. On both occasions, they fell in the 'quarters', at a time when there was no round of 16, so this is the first Angolan victory ever in CAN knockout games.
In the quarter-finals, Angola will face, in Abidjan, Nigeria, which guaranteed passage to the next stage of the competition after eliminating Cameroon.
