12 years ago, a young and ambitious young player was making her debut for Angola at the IHF Women’s World Championship. Line player Albertina da Cruz Kassoma was only 17 years old when she first stepped on the court at the world handball flagship competition, but her potential was there to be seen.

Now, Kassoma is the captain of the Angola women’s national team and she is getting ready for her sixth World Championship, after having already played at Serbia 2013, Denmark 2015, Japan 2019, Spain 2021 and Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023.

“It's an honour for me to play again in the World Championship. We know that it's a tough competition with the best teams in the world. So for me it's always an honour to be part of this and represent my country to the best of my abilities,” says Kassoma in an interview with ihf.info.

A strong player, a lynchpin in defence for the Angola national team, which has also made a huge progress since moving to Europe and playing in the Romanian league for CS Rapid București, Kassoma is now the captain of the African side which has been dominating the continent over the past years.

In fact, Angola have won the CAHB African Women’s Handball Championship in 15 of the past 17 editions, finishing third in 1996 and 2014. Kassoma herself has been part of the side which won the last five editions, securing 33 consecutive wins in the process, with the last loss coming in the semi-final against Tunisia in 2014.

“It’s a pressure and a joy to fulfil this duty. It's a bit of a pressure because I have some responsibilities to pass on to the other girls. And it's also a joy for me. I think it's both and it’s a special feeling,” says the line player.

However, since 2015, when Angola reached the Round of 16 of the IHF Women’s World Championship, the African side failed to make the cut from the preliminary round in the next three editions, before returning to the main round at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023.

With two wins and a draw in six matches, the African champions ended up on the 15th place, but proved their mettle in tough conditions. And now, they will face again Norway and the Republic of Korea, two teams they also met in the previous edition of the world handball flagship competition.

Their third opponent will be Kazakhstan, with a win against the Asian side likely seeing Angola progress to the main round.

“I hear a lot of people say that it's an easy group. But I don't think it's an easy group. Because all the teams improve a lot every year and invest a lot in themselves. So I think it's going to be an interesting group for us,” adds Kassoma.

For the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship, though, Angola are aiming as high as possible, with a team which also sees some younger players emerge, after the African side finished ninth at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where Kassoma was the team captain and created one of the most emotional moments of the competition.

The Angola line player suffered an injury during the match against Brazil and was carted off by fellow line player Tamires Morena de Araujo, with the pair delivering a fair-play moment for the ages.

But now, Kassoma, who is only 29 years old and has a vast experience, is looking at the future.

“It's not going to be easy, but we are prepared and aware of our difficulties and we will give our best. Every year the requirements are increasing and our goal is to get as far as we can. We don't want to stay where we were last year. We want to go further and further. The further we can go, the better. We don't just want to take part. We want to be there and get the best places. I think so. I believe in my group,” says Kassoma.

At her sixth edition of the IHF Women’s World Championship, she will not be only a player in the squad, she will be one of the leaders, as her experience over the last years increased by playing in the Champions League with Rapid, where she scored eight, 36 and 62 goals respectively in the European premium competition.

“Without a doubt, yes, this experience helped me. I think that playing in Romania or in other European countries is an advantage for us. The national team becomes more experienced and we have had more games during the year, which we didn't have in the past. Being here in Rapid has helped me a lot in my individual performance and in the national team. I have learned a lot here in the league, because it is a very strong league. All the teams fight a lot and are very close,” says Kassoma, not before offering a final thought about her personal objectives at the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship.

“I want our team to perform at the best level possible.”