Dominant defender scored five goals in Italy last season
BONGANI MALUNGA
Major David Bright and his Zebras side will resume their AFCON 2019 Qualification campaign with an away trip to face Angola at the Estadio 11 de Novembro on Sunday. Angola is a team filled with a new generation of impressive attacking talent but one of their secret weapons is Italian based defender Bartolomeu Jacinto Quissanga, commonly known as Bastos.
The 26 year old defender plays for Italian giants Lazio and recently attracted the interest of newly promoted and heavily spending English club Wolverhampton Wanderers. The English club was willing to part with £17 million to acquire his services.
Bastos has a strong physical presence and has adjusted well to the technical and tactical demands of the Italian league. He is fast and can “play from the back” as many modern defenders are required in today’s game, he is usually deployed on the right side of a three man defence in the club’s system. This usually gives him the license to make forward runs when needed and he has also found himself in numerous goal scoring positions.
Last season he was a regular player for the Rome based outfit as he featured in 21 league games, scoring four goals and one goal in the Europa League. He is usually dangerous on set pieces as he demonstrated against the likes of Genoa, Chievo Verona and Cagliari among others.
The Angolan defender also played a huge part in his team’s incredible 2-1 victory against perennial league champions Juventus in an away game in Turin last season, he helped keep the likes of Gonzalo Higuain at bay and ensured that Lazio won the match. Juventus rarely lose at home, Lazio’s victory was a remarkable team effort which relied largely on repelling Juventus’ attack and Bastos stood out in the match.
Zebras players should be aware of his positioning during set pieces, he usually evades his markers anticipating a rebounded effort, it is a move he has done so many times in the Italian Serie A.