Angola confirmed as hosts of Window 5 of World Cup Qualifiers

ABIDJAN (FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers) - FIBA Africa on Friday confirmed Angola as the host country of the fifth window of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 African Qualifiers.

From November 30 - December 2, the eleven-time African champions will host in their capital city of Luanda the second leg of Group E, which includes Chad, Cameroon, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia.

With Tunisia and Nigeria already qualified for next year's 32-nation World Cup in China, there are three more tickets on offer for African teams.

Speaking to FIBA.basketball, Angola's top performer Yanick Moreira expressed his excitement for playing again in his native Luanda. 

"It is always great to get the opportunity of playing in front of our home fans. We've played in Angola before, and it was good fun having our own people cheering on us," Moreira said, adding: "I must admit that it was hard to win all three games."

Last November, Angola got the better of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, and Egypt.

But losing two of their three games in the second leg of Group C in the third window of the Qualifiers in Cairo, raised more questions than answers.

However, Angola responded with a 2-1 mark last month in Tunisia. 

"Now that we know coach Will Voigt's mentality, I am sure, we will do better than we did in June-July," Moreira went on saying.

The 27-year-old, who currently plays for PAOK in Greece's top flight League, continued: "Cameroon, Chad, and Tunisia, all are great teams. No matter who we play first, we must start with a win. 

"We wanted to get qualified in Tunisia, but things didn't turn out as we planned."

After beating Cameroon and Chad in the first two games of the fourth window, Angola had a good start to the game but lost to Tunisia.

The Angolans currently sit in second place of Group E with 15 points, while Egypt and Cameroon come next with 14 points each.

"Now that we play at home, we will do everything we can to win all three games. We don't want to be surprised by anyone," the 6ft11 (2.11m) center said.

"Cameroon is a very good team. You can't underestimate Chad, which is also a good team, and needless to recognize the excellent work that coach Mario Palma is doing with Tunisia. It will be tough, but we'll be ready," Moreira stressed.

"We are going to need to start our preparation early, improve our three-point shooting and rebound even better."

The Luanda event will decide the second Group E team to follow Tunisia to the China 2019 showdown.

Meanwhile, Group F, which comprises of Nigeria, Senegal, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Cote d'Ivoire, and Mali will resume their World Cup Qualifiers campaign in February 2019. 

The country that finishes with the best third-place record will complete the five-team African lineup for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019. 

FIBA