Angolan giants Atletico Petroleos de Luanda have confirmed their 22-man squad ahead of their CAF Champions League quarter-final second leg with Mamelodi Sundowns.
Petro are set to face 2016 champions in the second leg of their quarter-final and are coming into this fixture with a 2-1 advantage after winning the first leg in Luanda a week ago.
The Girabola log leaders arrived in Johannesburg on Wednesday night already and completed their first training session at the Witwatersrand University sports complex on Thursday evening. They are expected to do their second and last training session later today at FNB Stadium.
CAF Champions League top goal-scorer Tiago Azulão, who is also a captain of the side and scored the important equaliser in the first leg, has insisted his team knows the importance of the game.
“The weather here is a little different, but it’s not too cold either. Good was the adaptation to the pitch, which is very similar to what we will find, to adapt to the speed of the ball,” he told the club’s media team.
“The team is very calm, very focused and focused to make a great game here and qualify for the semi-finals. The training was good, the people are excited, we know the importance of this game, but we are calm, knowing what we have to do to achieve this feat.
“It will be very important for Petro and for all of us who are part of this squad.”
Petro managed to win only one away game in this season’s CAF Champions League campaign, when they beat their arch rivals Sagrada Esperanca with Azulão scoring from the spot.
Head coach Alexandre Santos named a 22-man squad that travelled to South Africa, namely: Wellington, Mualucano, Benny, Eddie Afonso, Diógenes, Tó Carneiro, Pedro, Kinito, Pedro Pinto, Vidinho, Soares, Megue, Maya, Dany, Ito, Job, Gleison, Jaredi, Anderson, Yano, Erico and Tiago Azulão.
Petro will hope to reach their first ever CAF Champions League semi-final, with the game kicking off at 18:00 at FNB Stadium on Saturday.
