Angola and Mauritania settled for a share of the spoils in their Group E Africa Cup Of Nations encounter on Saturday afternoon in Suez.
Corentin Martins made only two changes to the side that was hammered by Mali in their first ever game at AFCON, bringing in Moustapha Diaw and Moulaye Khalil. Meanwhile, the Palancas Negras also brought two new faces, in the form of Chow andGelson Dala.
The Southern African outfit nearly got an early lead fortuitously in the 11th minute after Mauritania goalkeeper Brahim Souleymane made a huge blunder by mistiming an innocuous cross into the area, but luckily for him it missed the gaping net just wide. Angola were patient on the ball in the opening exchanges but they came close again in the 15th minute through Djalma's glancing header that missed slightly over the bar.
The intensity of the match fizzled out out in the final 10 minutes of the first stanza, which led to a lack of chances on both ends of the field as the sides went in to the break goalless.
After a quiet start to the second half, Angola made a double substitution just before the hour-mark to add pace upfront, as Geraldo came on for Fredy Ribeiro while Wilson Eduardo came on for Mateus.
The Palancas Negras should have been ahead in the 62nd minute after Dala went through on the right side of the box and delivered a square pass to the back post but, where Eduardo could only guide his effort wide.
The encounter was opening up with 20 minutes remaining but both sides were let down by either the final pass or the finishing touches, which saw Angola introduce Mabulu in place of Djalma in a straight swap upfront.
Geraldo thought he had netted the winner for the Southern African side in the last minute after converting Paizo'a cross at the far side but the goal was disallowed for offside as the encounter ended goalless.