Carlos Viver opened his world championship account as head coach of Angola with two points as his African championship-winning side saw off Islamic Solidarity Games silver medallists Kazakhstan in the opening game of preliminary group H of the 2025 IHF Women’s World Championship in Trier.

Group H
Angola vs Kazakhstan 38:20 (21:9)

Ahead by nine goals (15:6) with just over a quarter of the game gone, Angola coach Viver had seen enough to know two points were in the bag, taking off his dominant captain, Albertina Kassoma to rest her ahead of the tougher challenges to come, against Korea and Norway.

Kassoma’s physical presence, handball nous and knowledge was more than Kazakhstan could cope with as their coach Aliaksandr Sytsko took his first time-out with just over four minutes gone and his side 4:0 down.

Shortly after they moved into a 4-2 defence to try and nullify the Angolan attacking threat as Zhanerke Kuandykova finally got the Asian side off of the mark but the gap kept growing as Kazakhstan’s defence was opened up time and time again, Sytsko using all three goalkeepers in the opening quarter as they failed to make a save between them.

A second time out came just after 13 minutes, but at seven goals behind (13:6) it was clear who the winners were going to be with Viver’s side missing their first shot just short of the 20-minute mark (16:6).

The remainder of the game allowed Viver to give valuable time to their entire squad of 16, including 25-year-old left back Rossana Sebastiao Mateus, who made her senior national team competitive debut and 39-year-old left wing, Natalia Maria Bernardo Do Santos, who continues on court to surpass 300 national team appearances in Germany, ahead of her 39th birthday on Christmas Day.
 
hummel Player of the Match: Vilma Pegado Nenganga (Angola)