Milovan buoyant of Angola halt

 The Black Stars, four-time winners have crawled to the last eight of the tournament, and are billed to face hosts Angola in the first quarter final of the 27th edition on Sunday, November 24 at the November 11 Stadium in Luanda.  The hosts are backed by their vociferous fans who fill every corner of the […]

 The Black Stars, four-time winners have crawled to the last eight of the tournament, and are billed to face hosts Angola in the first quarter final of the 27th edition on Sunday, November 24 at the November 11 Stadium in Luanda.

 The hosts are backed by their vociferous fans who fill every corner of the 50,000 capacity stadium whenever the Palancas Negras are playing, but Ghana’s Serbian trainer has promised to cut short their impressive campaign so far.

 The Palancas Negras are hoping to reach the last four for the first time, and the 56-year old tactician is banking heavily on his youthful squad to quash those ambitions.

 “I respect Angola. They are a good team, but we shall give our best on Sunday. I have faith in my youthful players and so far they have proved to be good fighters.”

 Milo as the Serb is nicknamed has also dismissed fears his team will be intimidated by the huge support base for the team including President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

 “We are aware of Angola’s home advantage, but that will not intimidate us.”

 The trainer’s views have received a strong backing by midfielder Andre Ayew, who scored the winner against the Stallions of Burkina Faso that handed them a place at the quarter-finals.

 Ayew, one of two sons of Ghana legend, Abedi Pele in the Ghana squad reckons a tough outing, but surmountable.

 “We know the challenge we are going to face. We are ready for the challenge and we shall face Angola like any other team.

 “We respect them, and that does not mean that we go down without a fight.”

 The recent meeting between the two teams was during an international friendly on November 18, 2009 at the Estadio Cidadela which ended barren