Luis Felipe Scolari has been approached by the Angolan FA to manage the Angolan national squad. His contract, if he accepts it, runs to the end of the Africa Cup of Nations which is to be hosted by Angola in January 2010.
Angola has been overshadowed by its West African counterparts and Egypt until recently when they qualified for the 2006 World Cup and entered the quarterfinals of the 2008 Africa Cup. They however failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.
The Angolan squad has some quality players like Flavio Amado, Ze Kalanga, Luis Delgado, Gilberto Amaral and most notably Manucho. At the 2008 ACN, Manucho made a indelible impression scoring four goals and was included in the ACN’s best XI. He has had successful loan seasons at Panathinaikos and Hull since joining Man Utd in January 2008. Angola now believes that they have the nucleus of a squad capable of winning their first ACN title.
By bringing Scolari on board the Angolan FA hopes to accomplish a dual role, first, his experience and leadership will make winning possible but just as importantly his international profile will showcase Angola’s hosting of the ACN. In fact, the plan is to make him the public face of the competition just like he was for Portugal when they hosted the 2004 Euro.
As for Scolari, he has been linked to QPR and Man City, where embattled Mark Hughes faces a tough finishing stretch which could easily see the club flirting with relegation danger. It appears he is going to make his decision once the English season comes to an end.