South Africa vs Angola Prediction & Betting Tips (22 December)

Semi-finalist of the last edition of this CAN 2 years ago, South Africa ended up taking 3rd place at the end of the small final after its victory on penalties against the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since then, the 61st nation in the FIFA rankings qualified quite easily for this CAN by finishing first in its group ahead of Uganda, Congo and South Sudan. They then won their ticket for the next World Cup by beating Nigeria, Benin, Lesotho, Rwanda and Zimbabwe, notably with a final big success against Rwanda 3-0. Last month, Bafana Bafana gained confidence by beating Zambia in a 3-1 friendly match. Unlike its opponent of the day, Angola will not play in the next World Cup.

Quite far from the score, Patrice Beaumelle's men only took 4th place in their group behind Cape Verde, Cameroon and Libya and only ahead of Mauritius and Eswatini. On the other hand, the 89th nation in the world distinguished itself by taking 1st place in its qualifiers for this CAN ahead of Sudan, Niger and Ghana. Last month, the Antelopes Noires played 2 friendly matches. Beaten by world champions Argentina 2-0, they then dominated Zambia 3-2. 

The vast majority of the South African squad is made up of players playing in the local championship, mainly in teams like Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates. However, a few players came to try their luck in Europe like defenders Ngezana (FCSB) and Smith (Queens Park Rangers), midfielder Stihole (Tondela) and the formidable striker Lyle Foster (Burnley), author of 8 goals in 20 caps. Pay attention of course to midfielder Mokoena (9 goals in 45 caps) and the promising Appollis (19 caps, 5 goals). It should still be noted that the captain Zwane (51 sels, 12 goals) was not selected for this competition like the attackers Hlongwane (18 sels, 4 goals, Minnesota United) and Mayambela (16 sels, 2 goals, Aris Limassol). On the Angolan side, there are some well-known faces in Europe. In the defensive sector in particular with the important Buata (Gil Vicente, 59 sel), Gaspar (Lecce, 46 sel), Bondo (Famalicao, 16 sel) or even Mata (Lyon, 16 sel).

We find some players accustomed to the high level in the heart of the game like captain Fredy (Bodrum, 66 sel, 4 goals) and the important Show (FC Dallas, 60 sel), Nteka (Rayo Vallecano, 13 sel) and Mukendi (Vitoria Guimaraes). Up front, the two best assets of this team are Gelson Dala (21 goals in 53 games) and Mabululu (14 goals in 42 games). The least decisive Zini (32 sels, 8 goals, AEK Athens), Milson (31 sels, 5 goals), Luvumbo (Cagliari), Nzola (Pisa) and Benson (Swensea) all also play on the old continent. Note the absence in the list of Pallois Gaspar (8 sel).