Jaime Covilha to coach Angola at AfroBasket Women 2015

LUANDA (AfroBasket Women 2015) - Jaime Covilha has been confirmed as the new head coach of Angola's women's national team.

After months of speculations, the country's Basketball Federation confirmed Covilha on Thursday in the capital city of Luanda.

It will be Covilha's first time in charge of Angola's senior women's team. He takes over from Anibal Moreira, who guided the Angolans to two consecutive continental titles in 2011 and 2013.

Moreira last coached Angola's women at the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey.

The Angolans lost all three of their Group Phase games in Istanbul.

At the time, Moreira, who is currently at the helm of Marinha de Guerra in Angola's top flight Banco BIC Basket league, announced the end of his tenure with the team.

Covilha is often dubbed a student of the game.

He gained international acclamation after replacing Frenchman Michel Gomez midway through AfroBasket 2011, still managing to guide the Angolans to the Final which they lost to Tunisia.

Last December, Covilha and his Primeiro D'Agosto side fell short in the Final of the 2014 African Champions Cup for Women in Sfax, Tunisia, against city and continental arch rivals InterClube de Luanda.

Covilha has always been tipped as a favourite to take the job.

Even before, his appointment, Angolan ace Nacissela Mauricio hinted at the probability of Covilha to take over.

Last month, she said: "I am not sure, but there are big chances of Jaime Covilha becoming the national team head coach.

He [Covilha] is a hard working man with a great ability of educating young men and women, not only in basketball but also in life in general. - Mauricio

Covilha, who is currently coaching Angolan side Primeiro D'Agosto, is expected to start working with the reigning African champions later this month, once the Angolan Championship has concluded.

Angola will enter AfroBasket Women 2015 as the title holders and have been drawn in Group B with 10-time Africa champions Senegal, along with Algeria, the winners of the Africa Zone 3 qualifier between Cote d'Ivoire and Nigeria, a team to be determined from Zone 2 and another to be attributed a wild card invitation.

The continental tournament, which serves as a qualifier for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, will take place in Yaounde, Cameroon, from 24 September-3 October.

FIBA