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The hosts will go into the epic winner-takes-all contest against Zimbabwe on the back foot needing to overhaul a 1-3 first leg deficit and given their home record in recent years, Ferrin has every reason to feel the heat is on his side.

“The finishing is a problem for Angolan football, it is a problem that has lasted for some time and it is the responsibility of the athletes we have selected to get that right,” the Uruguayan gaffer told Angolan journalists this week.

Ferrin revealed, in comments carried in the Journal de Angola, he was concerned that the conversion rate of the Palancas Negras did not justify the number of chances they created in their matches.

Given that goals will be the lifeline for the Angolans, in a contest where they already trail their opponents after being surprised by a Warriors first half blitzkrieg at Rufaro last month, Ferrin is right to be concerned as D-Day looms.

The Angolans need at least a 2-0 winning scoreline, which will take them through on the away goals rule, while a 3-1 victory for the Palancas Negras will square the tie. Any goal that the Warriors score in Luanda will be golden as it will complicate the Angolan mission with two goals for Rahman Gumbo and his men all but sealing their ticket given that the Palancas Negras will need to score at least five goals.

Alternatively, the Warriors could complete their mission by restricting the Angolans to just, at worst, a single goal.

Statistics, too, do not support Angola’s cause.

Ferrin is aware that the last time the Angolans played a competitive game, on home soil at the November 11 Stadium, they scored only one goal and, crucially, also conceded a goal.

Playing against Uganda, in their opening 2014 World Cup qualifier in Luanda on 3 June, the Angolans started strongly and went ahead as early as the eighth minute when the impressive Djalma Campos scored.

But the Ugandans never gave up and were rewarded for a solid second half performance when Emmanuel Okwi scored with just three minutes from time for a share of the spoils.

Djalma, the 25-year-old forward, is turning into a key player for the Palancas Negras.

The son of Abel Campos, who played in Portugal for several seasons at Benfica and Braga, Djalma signed a five-year deal with former European champions Porto on 2 May last year.

But he has spent the better part of the past year on loan, first at Maritimo in Portugal, and now at Turkish Super Lig club, Kasimpasa Spor Kulubu.

Djalma scored the away goal for the Angolans at Rufaro in the first leg of this showdown, his third for his country, and Ferrin will be hoping for a very influential role from his forward after surprisingly leaving him on the bench in Harare.

But scoring goals hasn’t been easy for the Angolan team of late and under intense pressure on home soil in a winner-takes-all showdown on Sunday, it’s likely to be a very tough assignment.

The Palancas Negras fired blanks in their last competitive game, away in Monrovia against Liberia in June in a 2014 World Cup qualifier, in a dull goalless draw. The Warriors, by comparison, also drew their last match in Monrovia against the Liberians but unlike the Palancas Negras, the Zimbabweans scored in a game that ended 1-1.

During their successful campaign to qualify for the 2012 Nations Cup finals in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, Angola only managed a 2-0 win, at home, in one of the three matches they played in Luanda.

That victory came in their very final match, against Uganda, which they won 2-0 in September last year, while the earlier home group games against Guinea Bissau and Kenya had yielded identical 1-0 victories for the Palancas Negras.

Manucho, who scored a double in a 6-1 for Valladolid against Rayo Vallecano last week to earn a place in the Spanish La Liga Team of the Week, was on target when the Angolans won 2-0 at home against Uganda in September last year.

During the 2010 Nations Cup finals, which the Angolans hosted, they played four matches, won just one, drew two and lost their quarterfinal tie 0-1 against Ghana. Twice, against Ghana and Algeria, the Angolans failed to score and while they scored four times in their first game against Mali, they also conceded four goals in an eight-goal thriller.