Back to World Cup drawing board for Angola, Togo

CAIRO – World Cup finalists Angola and Togo are going back to the drawing board after poor performances at the African Nations Cup finals.

Both Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves and his Togo counterpart Stephen Keshi expressed disappointment as their teams continued a winless streak at the tournament on Wednesday. Togo were eliminated from the competition after a second successive loss, going down 2-0 to Cameroon, while Angola are on the cusp of missing out on the quarter-finals after a goalless draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo.”We were unlucky,” said Oliveira Goncalves after picking up their first point of the campaign, “but now our future in the tournament depends on others.”Togo’s Keshi said the losses were a setback, but at the same time invaluable experience in their preparations for the World Cup which begins in Germany in June.”I hope to have a lot of friendly matches to put them right between now and the World Cup.I have to work on the mental attitude, whatever it takes,” said the Angola had also expected more from the tournament in Egypt and would make adjustments in the coming months, said Oliveira Goncalves.But he added: “Angola are not a candidate to win the World Cup, we are going there to fly our flag and to display our soccer.We are a country who has emerged from suffering decades of civil war and to go to the World Cup is a great achievement for us.”Angola will play against Togo in a deciding match scheduled for Sunday at the Cairo stadium.- Nampa-ReutersTogo were eliminated from the competition after a second successive loss, going down 2-0 to Cameroon, while Angola are on the cusp of missing out on the quarter-finals after a goalless draw with the Democratic Republic of Congo.”We were unlucky,” said Oliveira Goncalves after picking up their first point of the campaign, “but now our future in the tournament depends on others.”Togo’s Keshi said the losses were a setback, but at the same time invaluable experience in their preparations for the World Cup which begins in Germany in June.”I hope to have a lot of friendly matches to put them right between now and the World Cup.I have to work on the mental attitude, whatever it takes,” said the Angola had also expected more from the tournament in Egypt and would make adjustments in the coming months, said Oliveira Goncalves.But he added: “Angola are not a candidate to win the World Cup, we are going there to fly our flag and to display our soccer.We are a country who has emerged from suffering decades of civil war and to go to the World Cup is a great achievement for us.”Angola will play against Togo in a deciding match scheduled for Sunday at the Cairo stadium.- Nampa-Reuters