Luanda - Angola national senior men’s football team lost 4-0 to Iran on Tuesday in a friendly match, as part of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) date.
In a match played in Tehran, Angola were losing 3-0 at half-time, with a defence lacking some key players, after few players refused to travel to the Arab country.
After qualifying for the African Nations Championship "CAN`2024" in January in Côte d`Ivoire, some influential players of the national team refused to take part in this second match.
Milson, Zito Luvumbo, Megue, Eddie Afonso, Kinto, Gilberto, Beni Mukendi, Lucas João, Kialonda Gaspar, Gelson Dala and Bruno Paz are among the absentees, without the Angolan Football Federation (FAF) issuing an official statement on the matter.
With a weakened defence, with Tó Carneiro almost taking all the blame, and an attack in which Mabululu, well marked, was allowed very little to do, Angola created few scoring opportunities.
Teremi, the FC do Porto striker, scored in the 7th and 16th minutes, and Moharrami, in the 20th minute, rounded off the scoring before the break.
Angola were better organised in defence and attack, but the only real threat came in the 69th minute by Mabululu.
The striker, top scorer in the 2022-23 season for Al Ittihad of Egypt’s Alexandria, controlled the ball between two defenders and shot, forcing the opposing goalkeeper to make only one difficult save throughout the match.
Despite having the upper hand at times in the game, it was the hosts who extended the lead to 4-0 through Mohanlou Shahriar in the 87th minute.
The result brings Iran's winning record over Angola to two, following the 1-0 win in 2021.
The record shows two draws, the first in 2006 (1-1), a goal by Flávio, currently assistant coach of Petro de Luanda, and the second in 2014 (1-1), a goal by Silva, currently coach of Ferroviário do Huambo.
MC/Amp/jmc
