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In the World Cup D group match between the national teams of Angola and Portugal, the Portuguese celebrated a victory over their former colony with a minimal difference, despite being considered the favorites. The only and winning goal of the match was scored by Pedro Pauleta.
Cologne RheinEnergieStadion, 45,000 spectators Referee - Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay) Angola 0 - 1 Portugal 4' [0 - 1] Pedro Pauleta
Angola: J.Ricardo, L.Delgado, Jamba, C.Kali, M.Loco, A.Macanga, P.Figueiredo (80' M.Miloy), A.Mendonca, A.Mateus, N.Ze Kalanga (70' N.Edson), F.Akwa (59' P.Mantorras).
Portugal: Ricardo, Miguel, F.Meira, R.Carvalho, N.Valente, Tiago (82' H.Viana), Petit (72' Maniche), Simao, L.Figo, C.Ronaldo (60' Costinha), P.Pauleta.
Portugal could have taken the lead in the first minute, but Pauleta missed the opportunity. Three minutes later, the Portuguese were already in the lead - a great breakthrough by Luis Figo in the penalty area deceived the defender, made an accurate pass to Pauleta, who did not miss the chance and put his country ahead.
About fifteen minutes into the game, Pauleta found himself in the attack again when he received a long pass from deep in the field and attempted a shot on goal, but the ball flew just wide.
Meanwhile, the Angolan players did not pose a threat to their opponents and mostly tried long-range shots. Forward Akwa made several attempts to score.
A little later, Cristiano Ronaldo was not successful when, after a pass into the penalty area, he was not able to prepare for a shot and the ball hit him and went out of bounds. Three minutes later, Ronaldo was disappointed again as the ball he headed hit the crossbar and bounced back onto the field.
At the end of the first half, Andre took a dangerous long-range shot, but the Portuguese were saved by the excellent goalkeeping of Ricardo.
After about an hour played, the Portuguese players on the counterattack could have created another goal, but Pauleta decided to finish the attack alone and shot harmlessly from the edge of the penalty area.
Around the 70th minute, Angola had a decent attack during which Loco had a chance to shoot from the edge of the penalty area, but the player's shot was very inaccurate.
At the very end of the match, Maniche took a dangerous long shot, but Angolan goalkeeper Joao Ricardo managed to deflect the ball over the goal and prevent the Portuguese from increasing their lead, thus ending the match with just one goal conceded.
