'Many of them play in the Premier League' - Angola coach admits Nigeria squad is full of talented players 

Angola's Portuguese coach Pedro Gonçalves is aiming to take the Palancas Negras to the semifinals of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations by beating the Super Eagles in Friday's quarterfinal showdown at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan. 

Angola thrashed Namibia 3-0 in the round of 16 to set up a meeting with three-time African champions Nigeria on Friday, February 2.

Gonçalves is aware that the Super Eagles have players who can cause problems for his side and highlighted that the Nigeria squad is full of talented players, some of whom are on the books of Premier League clubs. 

Of the twenty-five players Jose Peseiro has taken to Ivory Coast, eleven have Premier League experience including Ola Aina, Frank Onyeka, Alex Iwobi, Calvin Bassey, William Troost-Ekong, Semi Ajayi, Ahmed Musa, Joe Aribo, Kelechi Iheanacho, Ademola Lookman and Paul Onuachu.

The Angolans don't have that luxury as only Clermont Foot's Jérémie Bela and Cagliari's Zito Luvumbo play for clubs in the top five European Leagues.

Gonçalves has underlined that he is not scared of facing the Super Eagles, full of players from the best clubs in the world.  

In quotes relayed by Portuguese sports daily A Bola, he said: "Nigeria is a colossus of African football, although it had some difficulties before the AFCON, but what is certain is that Nigeria is an African colossus full of talented players, many of them playing in the Premier League or reference leagues in Europe, such as the Italian league and the Portuguese league. 

"No one would have thought we would be here at this moment, however, we within the team felt our potential, we knew our growth and our consistency. 

"Occasionally, our performance may have come as a surprise to the outside world, but for us, it certainly wasn't."

Against Nigeria on Friday, Angola coach Gonçalves will not be able to count on the services of first choice goalkeeper Neblú who was sent off for a handball outside his box in the win against Namibia. 

Ifeanyi Emmanuel 

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