There remains no return to international football for Inacio Miguel despite all the efforts and progress that he has made at Kaizer Chiefs.
Miguel is the captain at Chiefs, where he has already established himself as a commander in the dressing room.
Unfortunate is that this has come with no recognition from Angola’s national team coach Pedro Gonçalves with Miguel still locked out for the World Cup qualifiers against Libya and Mauritius in September.
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The 29-year-old is in his second season at Amakhosi, where has taken over as captain from Yusuf Maart.
There had been hopes that he will be considered for a return to Palancas Negras, but it seems his struggles at Petro de Luanda is what he is still remembered for back home.
Miguel wasn’t a regular at Petro.
The last of his five senior national team caps was in November 2023 when he came on as a substitute in a World Cup qualifier against Cape Verde.
At the last AFCON finals, the Portugal-born Angolan was a late call-up but never featured.
Also ignored is Gilberto – who is currently on loan at Petro from Orlando Pirates.
For Miguel, his mind will be on Mamelodi Sundowns for now with the Soweto giants up against the defending champions on Wednesday (19:30) at FNB Stadium.
"We are preparing for the game against Sundowns the same way that we prepare for all the games.
"Of course, we have massive respect for Sundowns. At the end of the day, they are the PSL winners, they have a good team, and they have good players.
"But the main focus here is on ourselves in what we can bring to the game.
"People are thinking just because Sundowns lost the game against (Orlando) Pirates they are no longer having confidence.
"But I don’t see it that way.
"It is part of football, of course.
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"Sundowns is a big club, they play for big trophies, but as I said, our focus is not on Sundowns.
"We have to be focused on ourselves and our job, in our duty in what we can do against Sundowns.
"Of course, we will analyse and see the strengths and the weak points of Sundowns.
"Of course, they have some weak points in the same way that they have some strong points and we have to be ready for that, and that is the main focus," says Miguel.
Photo: Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images
