Angolans hope to guarantee their presence at the 30th edition of Afrobasket, which will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, between 24 August and 5 September. For this, the national team will face the counterparts of Senegal, Mozambique and Kenya.
"The first mistake the group could make is to think that we only need one victory to guarantee qualification," said the national coach in a statement to the press. "There will be three games and the thought must be focused on overcoming all opponents. We need to show the DNA of winners, taking into account our ability," said José Neto.
The big news in the call - which has only 12 players - is the post Jilson Bango, 21 years old. The 1º de Agosto player has been featured in several national competitions and can now make his debut for the national team.
Among José Neto's choices are also Childe Dundão, Melvy da Silva, Leonel Paulo, Alexandre Jungo, Pedro Bastos, Gerson Domingos, Gerson Lukeny, Jone Pedro, Valdelício Joaquim, Gildo Santos and Carlos Morais.
For technical reasons, the base-winger Jacques da Conceição, winger Zé António and winger Aboubakar Gakou were excluded from the squad. Sílvio de Sousa is another absentee, since he is unable to leave the United States of America. However, Yanick Moreira will also not wear the national team colors because he is unavailable, says Angop.
The national delegation is led by Sílvio Lemos and Luís Costa and coordinated by Tony Sofrimento. Diego Falcão is the physical trainer, António Manuel and Alexandre Afonso the physiotherapists, Valdemiro Miranda the doctor and Pova Francisco is the sectionist.
The 'Palancas Negras' are runners-up in their group, B. This Friday, the 19th, they face the selection of Mozambique (4th place - 3 points), followed by a clash with Kenya (3rd place) classified - 4 points) and finishing the qualification in a confrontation with Senegal (1st classified - 6 points).
With regard to the other qualifying candidates, group C is also in Yaoundé, with the host team, Cameroon, to which are added Ivory Coast, Equatorial Guinea and the Republic of Guinea Conakry.
Monsantir, in Tunisia, hosts the matches of groups A, D and E.
