Breaking: Patrice Beaumelle appointed Angola coach

Frenchman Patrice Beaumelle has been appointed as the Angola national football team coach, 15 years after his earlier stint with the Palancas Negras.

 

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Angolan Football Federation president Fernando Alves Simoes unveiled Beaumelle to the media on Monday. The 47-year-old has signed a two-year contract to replace Portuguese tactician Pedro Gonçalves.

The Frenchman has returned to Angola where he worked as Hervé Renard’s deputy when the country hosted the Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2010.

The new man in charge has a weighty task of filling the shoes of Gonçalves who left his role last week, closing the curtain on a largely successful eight-year reign.

The weighty task that awaits Patrice Beaumelle with Angola

Gonçalves paid the price for failing to reach the paying ranks of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) finals.

The termination of the coach’s contract looked a matter of time considering that the CHAN failure was followed by Angola’s pending failure to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

They lost 0-1 to Libya at home to all but bow out of the campaign weeks ago.

Gonçalves’ achievements included winning the COSAFA Cup twice and qualifying for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals, which will take place in Morocco beginning in December.