The
side is from Luanda, capital of Angola, and one of the
major players in the Angolan league. The current champions
won the 2004 season title by a three point margin over
Sagrada Esperanca. How have they fared over the years.
From what is available from various sources, heres how
their story goes:
In the pre-independence days, the
club won 4 championships on the trot from 1965-1968
under the name Atletico De Luanda. After independence,
though, the club have had more difficulty winning silverware.
In the early 80's , the club had to play second fiddle
to other Luanda clubs like Petro Atletico and Primiero
De Agosto. While those clubs were winning titles, Aviacao
were not even in the top flight as late as 1984. In
fact, not until 1991 did Aviacao achieve promotion to
the Girabola, the top level of Angolan football, alongwith
Desportivo Do Nocal and Inter Huila.
Their first season in the top flight
though was an unqualified success. They finished runners-up
in the league to Primiero Agosto, edging out Petro Atletico
on goal difference, having finished with 40 points for
the season.Notable victories over Deportivo Nocal, Desportivo
Eka and Sporting Benguela paved the way for their impressive
display.
The next season ,1993, saw the club
finish in a highly creditable 4th place, behind familiar
opponents Petro,Primiero and surprise packages Desportivo
E.K.A. As it was the season, when civil war was raging
in Angola, only 21 games could be played and sides from
Huambo, Petro and Benfica, could not participate. Aviacao
garnered 21 points from their 21 matches and although
they finished high, a closer look at the table shows
that they only finished 4 points above the relegation
spot and a whopping 11 points off top. Demoralizing
defeats at the hands of E.K.A., Primiero Agosto and
Primiero Maio and even relegated Nacional Benguela didnt
help their cause a lot. Still there was a high point
in the season, when Aviacao managed to reach the National
Cup final against city rivals Petro Atletico, going
for the double. Although Aviacao took an early lead,
it was their rivals who eventually turned the game around
and ran away 2-1 winners to complete their double.
Season 1994 was a disappointment
for the club, as they failed to mount a credible challenge
for the title and faded away to mid-table obscurity,
the low point being home and away defeats to old nemesis
E.K.A. In the cup too, Aviacao failed to make it through
to the final, losing their semi-final 2-0 to defending
champions Petro Atletico. Things could only look up
for the club.
And they did. Aviacao finished in
3rd spot, reaffiriming their status as a rising force.
This time they came even closer, losing the title by
just 2 points and finishing behind Primiero Agosto on
goal difference on 41 points. In fact, at one stage,
Aviacao lead the table, only to lose and regain the
lead again. But they finally had to succumb to a resurgent
Petro Atletico. The club enjoyed some good wins against
Nacional Benguela (5-1) and Progresso Sambizanga (2-0)
and 4-0 against Academico Lobito. The low point of the
season was a 1-0 defeat to relegated Sporting Lubango,
which eventually cost them. But the best was yet to
come. When on 11th november, in the Estadio Da Cidadela
in Luanda, Aviacao beat Independente Tombwa 3-1 to claim
their first ever National Cup. They were now firmly
a force to be reckoned with.
The next season didnt bring any silverware,
the club failed to defend their Cup title and failed
to challenge for the Girabola title.The season after
that, 1997, the 6th in the top flight, saw another disappointing
campaign, the club finishing in their worst ever position
of 8th. The club had to look nervously below them for
the bottom 3 sides not to catch them.They did however,
reach the Cup semifinal, where they lost to Primiero
Agosto 2-1.
The club couldnt remain down for
too long though. They bounced back in 1998 to claim
3rd place again in the league behind perpetual rivals
Primiero (who won the championship) and Petro Atletico.
The gap between them and the champions though was a
staggering 12 points.The characterizing point of their
season was their lack of consistency and poor matches
against their direct rivals for the title. Brilliant
one week and mediocre the next. The club also failed
to reach the Cup quarterfinals that year.
It seemed next season that the club
was suffering from some nervousness when it came to
challenging for the title. The club let down their fans
and the pundits by finishing in 6th spot, finishing
a full 17 points behind defending champs Primiero Agosto.
A big headache was an inability to kill off games as
the club drew 10 times out of 28 matches. The cup proved
to be a different matter altogether. A pairing with
old rivals Petro Atletico was tricky enough but the
club thrilled their fans with a tenacious penalty shootout
win. Then they disposed of surprise 2nd level Academica
Soyo 1-0 to reach the Semifinal only to completely demolish
Independente Tombwa 4-0 in the process. However, as
so often in the past, the club just failed to go that
extra yard as they let Sagranda Esperanca take the Cup
from their grasp with a 1-0 defeat, in front of 3000
spectators.
The club were not too much disheartened
by their near misses. The first season of the new millenium
saw the club edge their way to 2nd spot, albeit a massive
19 points off the pace, Petro Atletico taking yet another
title.Home and away defeats to the champions undermined
their cause. In the Cup, Aviacao disposed of Progresso
Sambizanga easily 2-0 in the 2nd round but to their
huge disappointment, lost out on penalties to Sporting
Bie after a 1-1 normal time score.
Aviacao continued to remain a threat
the next season when they again finished 2nd behind
Petro Atletico finishing 7 points behind. They drew
both their games with the leaders and also managed to
pulverize a lot of their opponents with heavy victories.
One blemish on their record was a crushing 6-2 home
defeat at the hands of Benfica Lubango. In the Cup,
Aviacao edged out F.C. Cabinda on penalties in the first
round before fate did them justice and ironically they
lost out in another penalty shootout to yet another
Cabinda side, this time it was Sporting.
But then it was watershed. In the
14th edition of the Girabola, Aviacao finally answered
the calls of their fans and after near misses, claimed
the title of the best team in the land by winning the
2002 championship by 4 points from Primiero Agosto.Defending
champs Petro Atletico finished 6 points off the pace.
The highlight of the schedule was Aviacao's victory
over Petro in the crucial return fixture.Petro did take
their revenge in the Cup though, dumping Aviacao out
in the second round 3-1. But that was not the end of
the rivalry between the 2 clubs that season. As Petro
had won the cup, the 2 sides squared off for the Super
Cup too and this time in a titanic struggle, Aviacao
prevailed over the 2 legs on a nerve wracking penalty
shootout.
Season 2003 and Aviacao showed everyone
they meant business. And they did just enough to retain
their title, this time by just a single point from arch
rivals Petro Atletico. In fact, had it not been for
more consistency for the club earlier, they may well
have lost the title as Petro inflicted a 2-0 defeat
in the last fixture of the season.In the cup, Aviacao
were looking for a historic double to proclaim their
dominance. They almost didnt make it through their first
encounter, edging Benfica Luanda on penalty kicks and
then disposed of Ritondo Malanje 2-1 to reach the semis
where luck deserted them and after an epic battle with
Sagrada Esperanca, they went out on penalties. The Super
Cup pitted them against Inter Clube Angola and Aviacao
showed everyone their intent by totally outclassing
their opponents 6-1 on aggregate.
2004 saw the club establish themselves
as a dynasty ,retaining the title by 3 points over Sagrada
Esperanca. Aviacao easily outscored all their opponents
and lost just twice in the whole season.The Cup though,
eluded them again. Inter Clube Angola put paid to their
hopes with yet another penalty shootout win. Aviacao
also played in the newly formed Coca Cola Cup and lost
out in the 1st round to Progresso Sambizanga on penalties.
They will come up against Desportivo Sonangol Namibe
in the Super Cup final.
Breakup: Titles: 7 (4 as Atletico
Luanda pre-independence)
Cup:1
League positions: Promoted:
1991
1992:2nd
1993:4th
1994:7th
1995:3rd
1996:N/A
1997:8th
1998:3rd
1999:6th
2000:2nd
2001:2nd
2002:1st
2003:1st
2004:1st
Clubs African campaigns will be
covered in detail in another article.
Special thanks to RSSSF:
Jose Batalha and Eric Boesenberg,
league tables and scores taken from their excellent
pages.
