ANG - Magalhães right at home in Angola

LUANDA (2010 FIBA World Championship) - When your nickname is ‘Trophy Eater’ and a basketball federation makes you the coach of its national team, you have a pretty good idea of what’s expected.

Such is the case for Angola coach Luís Magalhães.

“Everything they [Angolan Basketball Federation] asked of me was to maintain the consistency and, above all, to improve the results,” he said to FIBA.com.

Winning championships is a habit for Magalhães.

He’s done it with clubs in Portugal, and Angola – including three with African powerhouse 1º de Agosto.

And at the very first opportunity with the Angola last summer, Magalhães led the national team to a gold medal at the Afrobasket in Libya.

It was the their seventh in a row in the competition and 10th overall.

It's why it was no surprise that the country signed him to a new deal just over a week ago, which means he will be in charge of the Angolans at the FIBA World Championship in Turkey when they go up against Argentina, Serbia, Australia, Germany and Jordan.

Angola want Magalhães to turn the national team into winners in the bigger international tournaments.

“As a team, we are committed to progressing as far as possible at the World Championship,” he said.

At the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, Angola reached the last 16 before losing to France and bowing out of the competition.

Following an Afrobasket title in 2007, Angola travelled to the Beijing Olympics but didn’t win a game.

In early July, Magalhães will gather his troops for a training camp at Cabinda and Benguela in Angola.

The African champions will then travel to the United States, Brazil and Europe over a two-month period to continue their preparations for the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

No matter what happens in Turkey, Magalhães knows where he will continue to live and coach.

Born in Mozambique in 1958, he is a Portuguese citizen.

But Magalhães has adopted Angola as his home.

“I feel well here,” he said.

“I feel at home.

“People love basketball, so there was no reason for me to go anywhere but to stay.”

Julio Chitunda
FIBA