FABRICE 'AKWA' MAIECO - ANGOLA

Date of birth: May 30, 1977
Birthplace: Benguela, Angola
Club: Unattached
Position: Forward

Angola is going to its first ever World Cup in 2006 thanks in large part to the heroics of team captain Fabrice 'Akwa' Maieco.

Angola's World Cup hopes looked to be dead and buried on the final day of the African qualifying round. Angola was tied on points with Nigeria for first place in their group; and while Nigeria enjoyed a comfortable 5-1 lead against Zimbabwe, Angola was being held 0-0 by Rwanda.

Had the results ended that way, another World Cup qualifying campaign would have ended in tears for Angola and Nigeria would have booked a spot in its fourth straight tournament.

Fortunately for Angola, Akwa stepped up and scored the winner with10 minutes left to save the day.

The Angolans' victory and better head-to-head record in matches with Nigeria was enough to see the Palancas Negras — the Black Gazelles — advance ahead of the Super Eagles to become the first Portuguese-speaking country in Africa ever to qualify for the World Cup.

As his country's all-time leading scorer (30 goals in 68 games), Akwa, who spent five seasons with Benfica in Portugal before recently playing for Al Wakra in the oil-rich country of Qatar, is the inspirational leader that Angola's youthful players always look to for guidance on the field.

Akwa is an accomplished striker with exquisite ball control and a clinical finisher.

Having scored five of Angola's 12 goals in the qualifiers, Akwa is of paramount importance to his team and will have to consistently find the back of the net in Germany if Angola is to progress beyond the first round.

He is coming off a disappointing showing at the 2006 African Nations Cup in January when he was held scoreless in three games and Angola bowed out in the first round.