By: Tladi Moloi
The defending champions thrashed South Africa by 3-0 in the final at the Toyota stadium in Bloemfontein.
Two goals from the player of the tournament and the top goal scorer, Laurindo Dilson Maria Aurelio and one from Felicio Mendes Joao were enough to give the back-to-back gold medal.
The defending champions have proven to be the better side to win the tournament and lifting the trophy on the last day of the tournament was not a fluke. Aurelio opened the scoring when he jumped high to connect with a set piece to give Angola a 1-0 lead.
Bafana Bafana lite, as it is called by soccer lovers, came strong in the early minutes of the second stanza in search of an equaliser but it never came as Angola's last line of defence remained rock solid.
It was again Aurelio who silenced the South Africa’s vocal supporters when he coolly connected with a low cross in the 6-yard box to make the score reading 2-0.
Boitumelo Radiopane nearly reduced the deficit when his well-paced ball but Angola keeper Adilson Cipriano was equal to the task as he pulled a brilliant save and arguably the save of the tournament.
When everyone thought it was all over, Joao hammered the last nail on South Africa’s coffin when he brilliantly converted from a free kick a yard out of the 18 yards box leaving SA keeper Thakasani Mbanjwa hands down.
Pedro Gonçalves, the Angola head coach has urged his counterparts to come with their best teams in the tournament in future. “I thought all teams played well. My advice to all the coaches is to come with their best players because this is the only tournament that gives us a chance to be with players for a long time,” he said.
He said he was happy with the way his team performed in this year’s tournament. “Congratulations to my team. They have managed to defend the trophy and we hope to grow from here,” he said.
Vela Khumalo, the Bafana Bafana head coach said he was happy with the way his team played. He has, however, sung an old song that sounds like it is played from a broken record when he said they created chances but failed to score goals.
“I think we need to go back and find the strikes. I was with Victor Letsoalo in 2001 when we won the same tournament in Port Elizaberth and he is still playing. You will wonder where other strikers are,” he said.
