Hosts Angola could have handed Mali a drubbing in the African Cup of Nations opener, but the latter team restored parity in the last 15 minutes of the game.

Jose was afraid that the curtain-raiser unexpected finale would take a toll on his men against Malawi, but after the match he stressed that they had 'showed character and spirit of sacrifice'.

"To win you ust take risks and make sacrifices and we showed character and spirit of sacrifice," he told a press conference.

"The match gave us a morale boost ahead of our game with Algeria."

Angola will face Algeria on Monday January 18th.

The home side need a draw to advance to the next round whereas the Desert Foxes have to win in order to go through.