Luanda - Angola lost to Portugal 0-4, in the second round game of Group A of the 46th edition of the Roller hockey World Championship, taking place in Novara, Italy.
After the defeat suffered in their debut, 1-7, against Argentina, the Angolan team maintained their defensive rigour, even after having conceded a goal, in the fourth minute, through Hélder Nunes, they were unable to stop the opponent.
The Angolan goalkeeper, Francisco Veludo, took on the responsibility of preventing any more goals from being scored by the Portuguese until half-time.
In the second half, in managing his squad, coach Rui Neto made specific changes, but it was Portugal who scored again, this time, through João Rodrigues, who knew how to take advantage of the distraction of the Angolan defense and afterwards João Rodrigues scored again for the Portuguese squad.
The African runners-up team end the regular phase on Wednesday, at 12:00 pm, against the USA, and at 5:30 pm, in the duel of champions, Argentina will face Portugal, to find the leader of the aforementioned group of the competition, which ends next Sunday.
Angola aim to improve the sixth place achieved in the previous edition, which took place in 2022, in San Juan, Argentina.
WR/MRA/jmc
