Goncalves's side face Egypt for a place in the semi-finals

The Palancas Negras reached the knockout rounds for the first time after a dour 0-0 draw with Tunisia, who went through as Group D winners.

"We're not here to please journalists," said Goncalves. "The result is fair because the best two teams advanced.

"We are happy to advance without a loss for the first time in our history."

The stalemate in Tamale rendered it impossible for either Senegal or South Africa, who shared a 1-1 draw in Kumasi, to qualify for the quarter-finals.

We're happy that we can stay in Tamale for our quarter final - it will feel like we're playing at home when we face Cameroon Tunisia midfielder Mehdi Nafti

Angola's 1-1 draw with South Africa and a 3-1 victory over Senegal laid the foundations for their passage, but the final match against Tunisia smacked of two teams keen to avoid defeat.

They will play Egypt in Kumasi on Monday for a place in the semi-finals.

"We just wanted to be in the next stage and we achieved that today," said the Angola defender Rui Marques.

"I think today both teams were afraid to lose the game so that's why it turned out the way it did. From now on if you lose you're out, so the quality will improve.

"It's great to be in the quarter-finals for the first time. But we are professionals and we want to go as far as we can and that means we're aiming for the final.

"Egypt is a tough match, but we drew with them 3-3 in a friendly before the tournament - so we need to concentrate and prepare well."

Tunisia, who drew 2-2 with Senegal and beat South Africa 3-1 in their first two games, now stay in Tamale where they will play Cameroon on Monday.

"The first target for us was to finish first in the group - we're happy that we have done that and that we can stay in Tamale for our quarter-final," said Tunisia midfielder Mehdi Nafti.

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"We will feel like we are playing at home when we face Cameroon.

"To be fair we came here with a lot of doubts - but these have been banished after our last three games and we have proved to people back home that the team is not dead."

South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira was keen to take the positives from his side's campaign despite their failure to qualify.

"We are satisfied with some things but for the World Cup of course we need to improve a lot more than here," said Parreira.

"We are not happy with the result as we did not win but we go home with some positives. This is a new team and my young players learnt a lot about football at this level.

"We will carry on with these players for the 2010 World Cup. In two years they would have gained the necessary experience to represent the country well at the World Cup."