ANG - Mingas warms up for Spain 2014

LUANDA (FIBA Basketball World Cup) - Over the past few years, calls to revamp Angola's men's national team became inevitable, especially after six of the 12 players that helped the country win AfroBasket 2013 were 30 and older.

But for Eduardo Mingas, age seems to be only a number.

Following the retirement of 37-year-old Carlos Almeida from the national team last summer, Mingas became the oldest player for the 11-time African champions.

If head coach Paulo Macedo aims to revamp the roster, it probably won't affect Mingas, 35, who has become one of the most influential players in Angola's recent showings.

The 1.98m undersized power forward led Angola in scoring at the 2012 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament before playing a crucial role at last summer's continental championship, where he averaged 8.6 points per game and led the African champions in rebounds with 6.6 boards per game.

In Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, where Angola reclaimed the African title they had lost to Tunisia in 2011 and qualified for the FIBA Basketball World Cup, Mingas was named to the All-Tournament Team alongside teammate and tournament MVP Carlos Morais, Souleyman Diabate (Cote d'Ivoire), Assem Marei (Egypt) and Maleye Ndoye (Senegal).

In the off-season, the Saurimo-native left Inter Clubde Luanda to join star-studded Recreativo do Libolo in Angola's national league and helped his new team finish third at the 2013 African Clubs Cup (ACC) in Sousse, Tunisia.

Mingas was acknowledged as one of the top performers at the ACC and, not surprisingly, was named to the all-tournament team along with Cedric Isom and fellow countryman Joaquim Gomes (both from the winning team D'Agosto), as well as Kevin Bridgewater (Etoile Sportive) and Hamdi Braa (Sporting Alexandria).

If Mingas is selected for Spain 2014, he will become one of the few current active players to have played in four editions of FIBA's flagship event.

FIBA