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Angola bid to get Porto defender on board for World Cup
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 LUANDA,
Feb 23 (Reuters) - Angola coach Luis Oliveira Goncalves has flown
to Portugal to convince Porto defender Pedro Emanuel to play for
his team at this year's World Cup finals.
The Angolan Football Federation said on Thursday that their coach
had talks with the veteran defender, a Champions League winner with
the Portuguese club.
"Things went very well," Oliveira Goncalves told the
Portuguese sports newspaper Record after the meeting.
"He hasn't decided yet but I think he'll decide (to play) for
us. We'll meet again in the next few days to sort it all out."
Oliviera Goncalves believes the 31-year-old would be a major boost
to his team's defence, which he said played poorly at this year's
African Nations Cup finals in Egypt.
"We need some big reinforcement," he told Record. Angola
did not make it past the first round at the tournament, conceding
five goals in their three games in Egypt.
Angola have repeatedly tried to convince the Luanda-born defender
to commit to their international cause, as has been the case in
recent years with several other Portuguese players born in Angola,
albeit with a much lower profile.
Pedro Emanuel was born in Angola but left with his family at the
time of the country's independence 30 years ago.
Last month he told reporters he was seriously considering opting
to play for Angola because he had given up hope of making the Portugal
squad for the World Cup in Germany, opening the window for another
bid by Oliveira Goncalves.
Pedro Emanuel's choice, however, is complicated by the fact that
Angola's first game at the World Cup finals is against Portugal
in Cologne on June 11.
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-angola&prov=reuters&type=lgns
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