21 September 2019 – As current COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship holders, Angola will be at this year’s tournament in Malawi with a whole new team compared to the one that proved victorious last year.
Miller Gomes, the new Football Association technical director, said the 2019 team will be comprised mainly of those born in 2004 and 2005, and some of the players from the current Under-17 squad that don’t make the final squad for the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Brazil.
The COSAFA-bound Under-17 team will commence preparations on Monday, September 23 under the auspices of coach Silvestre Pele, who will guide the team in Blantyre, while Pedro Gonçalves will lead the team at the global finals in Brazil that run from October 26-November 17.
Angola have been drawn with Brazil, Canada and New Zealand in their pool.
But before then a new generation of young stars will get the chance to showcase their talent at the COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship in Malawi that runs from October 11-20.
Angola defeated South Africa 1-0 in last year’s final in Mauritius and picked up a bronze medal at the African Under-17 Championships as well. Angola have competed at the African Under-17 Championship on four occasions now, with their bronze medal their best showing. They exited in the group stages in 1997, 1999 and 2017.
The team also competed in the 2001 COSAFA Under-17 Championships but did not make it past the group stages, while it was the same story in 2007 when they finished third in a four-team pool. They beat Eswatini 3-1, but then lost to Zimbabwe and Namibia, both by 2-1 scorelines.
Angola did not return until 2018, when they breezed through the pool stages with wins over Malawi (1-0), Eswatini (4-0) and Zimbabwe (2-1), defeated Namibia 7-0 in the semifinals and then edged South Africa in the decider.
One of the stars of that competition, Zito Luvumbo, later went for trials with English Premier League giants Manchester United.