ANGOLA VS PORTUGAL - WHO WILL WIN?

Angola determined to beat former master.
By Laura Smith-Spark BBC News website, Cologne

Angola has hoped for years to compete in the World Cup. A lot is riding on Angola's World Cup debut appearance. By a fluke of the draw, the very first nation it faces is Portugal - its colonial master for almost 500 years. Both Angolans and Portuguese are adamant: this is the one game of the whole tournament they have to win. In front of a 40,000-strong crowd in Cologne's stadium, they will play out a love-hate relationship stretching back centuries.

However, the Angolan team - known as the Palancas Negras, or Black Impalas, and placed 58th in the Fifa rankings - faces a tough challenge. The last match between the two nations, in 2001, was abandoned with 20 minutes to play after four Angolans were sent off - at which point Portugal were winning 5-1. But Angolan fans in Cologne for the game seem determined to be positive. Filipe Mendonnca, 25, who is working and studying business economics in Belgium, says the Angolan team had matured since 2001 and could do well. "Angola was a colony of Portugal for 500 years so now we have to beat Portugal to make up for our loss," he says.

Fans reflect on colonial history
In pictures

"We lost 500 years to them so this is our chance to win something back. It's very important to Angolan people - we have to win it." During its time as colonial ruler, Portugal transported more than a million Angolans to work in Brazil as slave labour, and only abolished forced labour in Angola itself in 1961. Nor has life been easy in the Portuguese-speaking southern African nation, known for its oil, diamonds and poverty, since it gained independence in 1975. The chaotic transfer of power led to a civil war lasting 27 years, in which an estimated 500,000 people died and hundreds of thousands were displaced.

Tekasala, a 31-year-old fashion designer from Angola - one of several involved in a cultural exhibition showcasing Angola's artistic talent while in Germany - says there is a feeling they have history to avenge. "It's our first game in the World Cup and it's against our former colonial master, so it means a lot. "When the draw was made, we thought 'hey, revenge, let's get them".
"Last time there were lots of problems but I don't think it will happen again. It will be a neutral venue, a neutral referee, a neutral crowd. I think the Angolan fans felt the referee was favouring the Portuguese last time. "We've never beaten them. If there's one game we want to win, it's against them." To add to the intensity on the pitch, many of Angola's best players have played their club football in Portugal. Captain Fabrice Akwa formerly played for Benfica, while striker Pedro Mantorras is still at the club and midfielder Figueiredo plays for Varzim.

The Angolan fans acknowledge that the Portuguese - ranked joint 8th by Fifa - have many more star players and showed what they are capable of at Euro 2004. But it does not stop them hoping for the kind of upset that Senegal achieved when they beat France, their former masters and at that time reigning champions, at the opening World Cup game in Seoul in 2002.

Meanwhile the Portuguese do not underestimate what their rivals - considered well organised in defence although they scored few goals in qualifying As well as those who have travelled from Portugal, Germany's own Portuguese population appears to have turned out in force in Cologne to support their side. A group of folk dancers from Neuss, an hour away, was performing on one of the main pedestrian streets in the centre on the eve of the match. "Everyone is very excited," says Ruben Peixoto. "We don't have tickets but we'll be watching the game with our friends."

Near the city's riverfront, travelling Portugal fan Manuel Rola says: "It will be a difficult game and it's the one we all want to win. "If Angola starts the game by scoring and then defending hard, Portugal will be in some difficulty. However Portugal does have some stars, players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Simao." Of course, as World Cup debutants, the Angolans are under far less pressure to do well than Portugal. They can be satisfied just to be at the tournament and playing Portugal in front of the eyes of the world - as an equal. "It's very important for us because in a way they are like our brothers. We have a relationship," says Angolan fan Joaquim Pinto.
"I am hoping for a draw, for the sake of friendship."

BBC NEWS REPORT.