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A last word from the Angola camp
LAST Wednesday, Angola fitness coach Jimmy Petruzzi watched them draw their final World Cup game 1-1 with Iran. On Monday, he will watch Italy play Australia in Kaiserslautern. Three days later, he will be back at Gigg Lane helping to plan Bury's pre-season programme.

There's not much time for a breather when you combine your job as a League Two club's fitness coach with a similar role helping a World Cup squad. So Jimmy was on something of a flying visit to Frankfurt when I caught up with him at a pavement cafe in the city.

He is taking a few days off to enjoy the World Cup as a spectator before flying back to England, where he will aim to attract Angola internationals to Bury, with Shakers boss Chris Casper's backing. But as Jimmy doesn't speak Portuguese, he will use David Diaz, a former Angola international now based in London, as an intermediary.

"I want to enjoy the tournament for a few days now," said Petruzzi (pictured above). "I'm going to head down to Kaiserslautern and enjoy it there, then I'll fly back to England on Wednesday, and we start pre-season training on June 29! When I get back to Bury, I'm going to start the fitness testing and get to work on the pre-season campaign. I'm also going to get the ball rolling on this Angola link, and get David to meet the gaffer.

"There have been some players I targeted before the World Cup as potential Bury players. I spoke to Chris about that and he was keen to back me. If we want to build this link, it would be beneficial to have someone who can speak the language, which is why I've been keen to get David in as an intermediary.

"I think it's possible that we can get Angola international players to Bury. Obviously, there will be other teams interested in them, but we've got the link there, and we're a good club, trying to do things the right way on and off the pitch, and I think we have a lot of selling points. David is going to play a strong role in getting players over too."

Sydney-born, Rochdale-based Petruzzi has enjoyed his first experience of working at a World Cup, although he is still readjusting to the outside world, having been ensconsed in Angola's tournament camp - based initially in Spain, and then in Celle, near Hanover - almost from the moment Bury's League Two campaign ended last month.

He said: "In a way, it's quite insular, because you're so focused on your own job. It's like being in a cocoon. You get to a cut-off point where you hit a date, and after that date, you really don't know what's going on anywhere else outside your own environment. It can be quite intensive. Until you come out of it, you haven't really got much of an idea of what's going on."

It was a testing experience though for the 33-year-old, who was brought into the Angola set-up by a previous manager, and who had to prove to head coach Luis Goncalves, his staff and the players that he was the right man for the job. When Angola went a goal down to Portugal in the opening minutes of their first match, things didn't look good.

He said: "I felt a bit of pressure when Portugal scored in that first game, because my involvement with the team - coming from the outside in - was always going to be a challenge for me. I always had to go that extra yard to justify my existence. But I knew we had good players, who showed great character and great strength."

Widely expected to be World Cup fall guys, Angola's bunch of semi-pros, free agents and Portuguese second division players emerged with great credit in only losing 1-0 to Portugal, then went one better by holding Mexico to a 0-0 draw.

"I think the Mexico game was the turning point for me," Petruzzi said. "In the first game, we were a bit nervous. The players had shown they had character, guts and courage, but maybe didn't justify how good they were technically and tactically. The second game showed that they were clever technically and tactically. Even though we had a man sent off, we probably had our chances to win the game, so a draw was probably a fair result."

That draw gave Angola an outside chance of writing one of the great World Cup stories by qualifying for the last 16 - if they beat Iran, group rivals Mexico lost to Portugal and there was a four-goal swing in the goal difference. For a few moments, when Angola led Iran, there looked to be a chance.

"When Mexico were 2-1 down and we were 1-0 up, we still needed a two-goal swing, and that was one of the reasons we kept attacking," Petruzzi said. "We probably could have held out and won the game, but we wanted to try to qualify."

Nonetheless, Angola's achievement in giving such a good account of themselves filled Petruzzi with pride, even if it didn't totally surprise him.

He said: "All logic would suggest that we would get a bruising. But there are physical, committed, hard-working set of lads. And a physical team with good tactical awareness and basic technique is halway to being competitive in international football."

Their performance has also done much to bring cheer to a country living through the aftermath of a 27-year civil war which only ended in 2002.

"This World Cup gave Angola the chance to advertise itself to the outside world," Petruzzi said. "The squad did themselves justice, conducting themselves with a lot of dignity on and off the pitch. If the country is united for 90 minutes during a World Cup game, then we've achieved something. The people of Angola have experienced real hardship for many, many years. There are players in the team who have lost family members. But that adversity created a real bond in the squad."

Having done his bit for Angola, Petruzzi can now sit back and watch the country of his birth take on Italy in Monday's second-round clash in Kaiserslautern. He was thrilled to see Australia pinch second place ahead of Croatia in a group topped by Brazil.

"I grew up in the same suburb as Harry Kewell and Mark Schwarzer," Petruzzi said "The players are a fantastic bunch of guys, and I'm very pleased for them. I do know Graham Arnold, the assistant coach, and he's done very well. We had a good team in 1998 who were unlucky not to qualify, and the same again in 2002, and now I think they'll get the recognition they deserve."

Whether Petruzzi will be able to enjoy the match is another matter. He may be an Aussie, but his parents are Italian, and he admitted he will have split loyalties.

"It's difficult," he said. "My parents are from Naples, and I'm Australian through and through. I came through the Australian sporting system and I owe a lot to the country. But I do have a big soft spot for Italy. I just want it good be a good game and may the best team win."

As for Petruzzi's international future, the most you can say is that he surely must have one after his achievements with Angola. Beyond that, the picture is a little hazy.

He said: "I'm intending to stay at international level. One or two international teams have spoken to me about working with them on a part-time basis. It's something I'm keen to follow up, and the gaffer at Bury is very keen for me to stay in international football, because it gives me a chance to become better at what I do, and attract players to the club as well.

"In terms of continuing with Angola, the ball's in their court. Saying that, there are two or three other teams interested in me as well. But my number one priority is Bury. This has been a fantastic experience, and I'm sure Bury will get a lot from this as well."

And it is partly because of this that Petruzzi is convinced Bury will have a better season this time round, avoiding a repeat of their final-day relegation escape last term.

He said: "I'm very optimistic we can do well next season. Last season was very challenging, because the manager took over when the team were deep in relegation trouble and one or two key players were sold on. This time, we're preparing as well as we can. It's not easy to get players because we're under financial restrictions and there are other teams with bigger budgets. But we're doing things right on and off the pitch, and we want to play a good brand of football. The players we've got are fantastic, and there's every reason to believe we'll have a good season."