Angola head coach Pedro Goncalves believes his side were on top of their game in the second half of their 1-1 Africa Cup of Nations opening draw against Algeria on Monday.

It was Angolan striker Cristovao Paciencia, who rescued a vital point for his side after converting from the spot to hold the North Africans at Bouake’s Stade De La Paix in the Group C opener.

The Desert Foxes had earlier been rewarded for their relentless attacks after a lobbed ball from the back went over Kialonda Gaspar for 2019 title hero, Baghdad Bounedjah to comfortably slot it into the bottom left corner.

Speaking after the game, Goncalves said he was satisfied with the performance of his team. “This team started slowly but we managed to find some spaces and came back into the game in the second half which the team did better,” he said as quoted by CAFOnline.

“The work isn’t done. The team showed that mentally they are up there so we will continue to build on this in our next matches.”

Angola will next play Mauritania on Saturday, January 20.