Afcon heavy with Portuguese influence that lingers on

When the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) started in Cote d’Ivoire only one Portuguese-speaking country was not represented in the tournament.

The absence of Sao Tome and Principe seems to have been made up for by the presence of Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau and Mozambique.

Angola’s Palancas Negras and Cape Verde’s Blue Sharks made it through to the quarter-finals, a historic run as it is the first time ever they’ve won an Afcon knock-out phase match.

After the 1-0 win over Mauritania, the Blue Sharks coach Pedro Brito Bubista has made no secret of his team’s intention to go as far as possible.

“Our aim is to work to become stronger and stronger,” he said.  “We’re charting our path. We know there are a lot of teams bigger than us, but we’re trying to focus on our game so that we have the opportunity to face the African powerhouses.”

Cape Verdean international midfielder Jamiro Monteiro, who was named man of the match, said in Abidjan that the Cape Verde national team “still has more to prove” in this tournament.

“Remember there will be an all-Portuguese semi-final to be played at the Stade de la Paix in Bouaké on 7 February: Palancas Negras versus Blue Sharks,” André Pipa, a Portuguese national and football commentator wrote on his Facebook page.

But in addition to these Portuguese-speaking national teams, the football federations of Angola, Egypt and Nigeria have opted for Portuguese citizens to coach their teams.

And as fate would have it, two Portuguese coaches will meet on Friday for the Afcon quarter-finals. Nigeria coach José Peseiro will face off with Angola’s Pedro Gonçalves.  

Regardless of the outcome of this game, one thing is certain. After the quarter-finals, the Afcon semi-finals will also have Portuguese spoken.