Angola will be looking to gun down Malawi in the Cosafa Castle Cup Group B game at the Independence Stadium in Windhoek tomorrow.
Palancas Negras are making their return to the regional tournament after failing to compete at all last year in South Africa.
The three-time Cosafa champions were thrashed 3-1 by a spirited Central African Republic (CAR) side away over the weekend.
Valdemar Antonio “Pana” Almeida grabbed Angola’s consolation goal in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier Group B encounter.
Angola coach Samy Matias is assisted by Augusto Manuel “Leão” and Simão Languinha, while Laurentino Cruz is the goalkeeper coach.
Matias selected a youthful squad for the Cosafa Cup. Striker Vladimir “Go’ and midfielder Nandinho have been included in the team.
Palancas Negras are the favourites to win Group B, but they will face stiff competition from Malawi, Lesotho as well as Mauritius.
Meanwhile, Malawi’s Flames will be out to stun Angola when the two sides clash in a Group B encounter tomorrow afternoon.
The Flames beat Zambia 1-0 in the last year’s Cosafa Cup Plate final. They had lost to Mozambique on penalties in the quarterfinals.
As part of their preparation for this year’s tournament, the Flames drew 0-0 with Namibia in a friendly encounter in midweek.
Malawi have reached the Cosafa Cup final twice. They reached the 2002 and 2003 finals, but they were beaten by South Africa and Zimbabwe respectively.
The Flames coach Ernest Mtawali included experienced players like Josephy Kamwendo and Chiukepo Msowoya in his squad for the regional tournament.
Angola beat Malawi 3-2 in the 2013 Cosafa Cup Plate semifinal encounter at the Arthur Davies Stadium in Kitwe, Zambia.
2016 Cosafa Cup fixtures
Saturday: Zimbabwe v Swaziland (15:45), Seychelles v Madagascar (18:15).
Sunday: Malawi v Angola (15:45), Lesotho v Mauritius (18:15),
Monday: Swaziland v Seychelles (17:45), Madagascar v Zimbabwe (20:15).
Tuesday: Angola v Lesotho (17:45), Mauritius v Malawi (20:15).
Wednesday: Zimbabwe v Seychelles (17:45), Swaziland v Madagascar (17:45
Thursday: Malawi v Lesotho (17:45)), Angola v Mauritius (17:45). — Supersport.