5th January, 2013
African champions Zambia suffered a third consecutive friendly defeat when losing 2-0 to fellow qualifiers Angola Saturday in a 2013 Africa Cup of Nations warm-up.
Striker Geraldo, who plays for Brazilian second-tier club Parana, opened the scoring after eight minutes at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto and defender Amaro from championship runners-up Primeiro Agosto added a second five minutes from time.
Zambia, who begin the defence of the title on January 21 against Ethiopia in north-eastern South African city Nelspruit, lost away to Saudi Arabia and Tanzania last month.
But the losses will not unduly concern 44-year-old French coach Herve Renard as Zambia also posted poor warm-up results before winning the Cup of Nations for the first time with a penalty shootout victory over favourites Ivory Coast.
Chipolopolo (The Copper Bullets) have three more friendlies lined up against Morocco, Norway and Namibia before facing Group C rivals Ethiopia, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.
Angola, whose Group A opponents will be South Africa, Morocco and the Cape Verde Islands, are on a roll under Uruguayan coach Gustavo Ferrin as this was a third win in a row after home successes against Rwanda and Cameroon.