Angola 2010 Opens amidst Beauty and Pageantry

Pin It Now! The much awaited Orange African Nations’ Cup 2010 finally kicked off yesterday at the November 11 stadium in Luanda amidst beauty and pageantry. The opening ceremony which lasted for around an hour was a colourful display of the rich cultural heritage of Angola. The 50,000 capacity stadium was filled with lots of spectators including the CAF president Issa Hayatou and the country’s president Jose Eduardo Dos Santos. Cultural performances, calisthenics and gymnastics were all displayed to thrill the audience.
The anxious moment soon came, which was the opening match between the host team and their Malian opponents. It was a trilling performance which saw the host go up by 4 goals before a dramatic comeback by the visitors to level scores at 4-4 at full time. The Angolans had taken the lead in the 37th minute when Gilberto’s free kick was nodded in by Flavio Amado. Barely 5 minutes later, in the 42nd minute Flavio made it goal number 2 for his team and thereafter the Palancas Negras piled a series of pressure on the Eagles but the first half ended 2-0. On resumption of the second half Manucho missed an opportunity that would have increased the goals to 3 by his team when he shot directly to the body of the goal keeper. He lost another chance when his header was diverted to the corner. However, in the 67th minute Gilberto was brought down by M. Bagayoko and the centre referee waved to the penalty spot; the penalty was neatly converted by Gilberto, making it the goal number 3 for Angola. The ovation that greeted the 3rd goal had hardly died down when Gilberto was pulled down in the 18 yard box by Saidu Keita resulting in another penalty which was converted by Manucho for the host team’s 4th goal. At this point everyone almost lost the hope of recovery by the visiting team. The reserve bench and the coaching crew of the Eagles had disappointment written all over their face because of what seemed a lacklustre performance by their team.
However, the Malians began to regain confidence, mounting pressure upon pressure on the host and this paid off when S. Keita scored their first goal in the 79th minute after a goal mouth scramble. Fredric Kanoute made it two in the 87th minute, while Saidu Keita added yet another goal in the 93rd minute before the substitute, M. Yattabare increased the tally to 4 to level score at 4-4 at full in what could easily be termed the greatest comeback in the history of the tournament. At the sound of the final whistle, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, the coach of Mali was obviously elated because his team was not humiliated in their opening match.
Some of the Angolans that gave good account of themselves were Flavio Amado, Gilberto, Manucho and Stelvio while on the side of the Eagles, S. Keita, F. Kanoute and M. Diara were outstanding. Four yellow cards were issued – to Stelvio, Chara, M. Bagayoko and Keita. The Angolans may have lost the opportunity to win the match because they became complacent, substituted their best attackers and allowed the wounded Eagles to draw levels

Angola 2010 Opens amidst Beauty and Pageantry