“Angola and Portugal are doomed to live in the arms of eternity. Nothing can shake the relationship that we always want to be good between our two countries, ”Angolan President João Lourenço (known as JLo) said yesterday to his Portuguese counterpart Marcelo Rebelo. de Sousa at the European-African Forum. “There is a great relationship between the States that has only improved over the past few years,” Marcelo said at an event that discussed the pandemic and economic recovery, highlighting the good personal relationship between the two.

“We have the same understanding of the urgency of overcoming the pandemic and the same understanding of the urgency of economic and social recovery”– said Marcelo, explaining that we have a “unique opportunity to make a qualitative leap” in the post-pandemic scenario. “If we can make a quantum leap forward together, it will be a huge step,” added the head of state, who called João Lourenço “my president,” as Angola assumed leadership of the Community of Portuguese Countries (CPLP) in September.

The videoconference debates between them took place at the end of the 4th Eurasian Forum at the initiative of the Council of the Portuguese Diaspora. However, covid-19 was at the center of the conversation, mediated by journalist Cristina Estevez. “When it comes to economic and social development and economic recovery, there is a fundamental priority issue. Most of the world is in a pandemic, ”said Marcelo. He warned that while we are moving from a “pandemic to an endemic,” it is still present and leaves traces: “The pandemic exists and determines the economic and social start, the ability to withstand the coming years.”

Lack of solidarity

Despite a reminder that the vaccine “does not solve the problem like a magic bullet,” the Portuguese president recalled that it was “a possible solution to fight the pandemic.” And he believes that international efforts to share vaccines, whether through bilateral cooperation mechanisms or the global COVAX mechanism, are “still insufficient” and should be accelerated. Portugal has already pledged three million doses, already shipping at least half – most to CPLP partner countries.

On the other side of the discussion, as the leader of the country that received the donated vaccines, João Laurenzo publicly thanked the international solidarity. But he argued that more needed to be done. “The solidarity shown so far has been limited to the donation of vaccines. This is not enough. Another form of expression of solidarity would be to open up opportunities for our countries to purchase the vaccines we need with our resources, ”he said. said, referring to the “enormous difficulty” in gaining access to the vaccine market.

The vice-president of the Federation dispelled doubts about the fate of the breeder. The Football Federation of Angola (FAP) has guaranteed the succession of Portuguese coach Pedro Gonçalves, who leads the Angola football team.

The information was provided by FAF Vice President Jose Carlos Miguel, who also said that although Angola’s qualifications for the 2022 Qatar World Cup were compromised, the work designed by Pedro Gonçalves provides guarantees for the future.

“The FAF board has no plans to get rid of Professor Pedro Gonçalves despite the fact that we do not have good results on the field, but in terms of adding new players and restructuring the team, we believe that the work“ And this gives us guarantees of a better future, so we we will continue the work developed by Professor Pedro Gonçalves, ”he said.

The confirmation came a few days after speculation that the FAF intended to terminate the coach’s contract over qualifying results for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

In truth, Pedro Gonçalves made history by taking the U-17 team to the World Cup in Brazil. From his team came Angolan footballers who made their dream of going to Europe come true: Domingos Andrade (Sporting U-23), David (U-23 Sp. Braga), Capita (Lille U-23), Zito (Cagliari, Italy, on loan). at Cosmo) and Abdul Bari (U23 Leixões). After working for Academia do Sporting for several years, the coach took over the team in 2014, where he signed a contract with 1º de Agosto.

Now in 13 games for the Angola national team, the Portuguese coach has won five, lost seven and one draw (13 goals scored and 13 conceded).

In the race for the World Cup, Angola has three points in four games and is last in Group F, Gabon is third with four, Egypt leads with 10 and Libya is second with six.

Pedro Gonçalves and Celesao return to their November 11 game in Luanda against Egypt, which they lost 1-0 in the first round, and end the group stage three days later when they visit Libya, which they also lost. in the second round with the same result.