Angola is in Group A of the main continental competition for national teams, which will take place between the 11th and 21st of April, together with Morocco, the host team and current title holder, Ghana and Zambia.
Despite the expressed desire, the Portuguese coach admits that Angola will face difficulties in the first phase games, in which the top two from each of the two groups will advance to the semi-finals.
“We know that Morocco is a team from another championship, it is in the top-10 in the world, while Angola is in 46th place, but the fact is that we are going to play five against five and what we want is to give the best response already with Morocco, and then we focus on the games with Ghana and Zambia. What we want, in the first phase, is to advance from the group and then fight for a place in the top three to be in the World Championship in Uzbekistan”, said the coach, to Lusa.
Marcos Antunes lamented, on the other hand, the fact that the national championships are on hold, unlike their opponents, who have high physical levels, as they are competing at the highest level.
“It’s one thing to be playing and competing and have our physical levels at a higher level, another thing is to prepare ourselves to reach these physical levels, but I believe that, from Thursday onwards, we will already have the players in peak form”, he guaranteed.
The coach said he has a young working group at his disposal, which not only gives him confidence in winning the African tournament, but also for the future.
“Clearly the squad gives me guarantees, it is a young squad and every day of training gives me total guarantee, not only for this CAN, but for the future”, he highlighted.
The coach guaranteed that, after two years, Angolan futsal has improved considerably, to the point of arousing the interest of Angolan companies, due to the credibility that the sport arouses.
“I believe that futsal in Angola today is completely different. Since 2021 it has been much better. Today, futsal in Angola is much more credible”, he guaranteed.
In June 2023, speaking to Lusa, Marcos Antunes described the negative situation in the Angolan team, from a financial point of view, a reality that guarantees to have changed, for the better.
“It's funny that after the interview I gave [to Lusa], in June 2023, I can say that everything I said today is no longer true. [It was] At a very difficult time in Angola at an economic level, but it is totally different because companies are looking for us, despite having little money, but they want to be on our side”, he stated.
On Thursday, Angola continues its trip to Morocco, the venue for CAN2024 futsal, to hold preparatory games.
Angola participates for the fourth time in the competition, in which its best result is third place achieved in 2020, in Morocco, after eliminations in the group stage in 2008, in Libya, and in 2016, in South Africa.
