Atlético Petróleos de Luanda, commonly known as Petro de Luanda, is an Angolan basketball club based in Luanda. It competes at the local level, at the Luanda Provincial Basketball Championship and at the Angola National Basketball Championship. Additionally, the club plays at the continental level, at the Basketball Africa League (BAL), which they have won in 2024.
Established in 1976, the team is part of a multi-sports club which includes a football and handball team as well. Petro has been one of the most successful teams in Angola, having won the second most Angolan championships with 16 titles, trailing only Primeiro de Agosto, and sharing the record for most Angolan Cups with 14 cups. The team has won three continental titles as well, having won the FIBA African Champions Cup in 2006 and 2015, and the BAL in 2024.
History
The Atlético Petróleos de Luanda club was founded on 14 January 1980 from the merger of three clubs, Grupo Sonangol, Clube Atlético de Luanda and Benfica de Luanda. The establishment was a result of business cooperation after the independence of Angola from colonisation by Portugal. Another reason was that the country's oil company aimed to reintegrate with the community through sports.[1] The club started with football before later establishing its basketball section.
Petro de Luanda won its first Angolan Basketball League in 1989, which was followed by seven more championships, as well as six Angolan Cups, during the 1990s.
During the 2000s, Petro won the league championship in 2006 and 2007 but saw arch-rivals Primeiro de Agosto win most of the trophies this decade. On 26 November 2006, Petro de Luanda won its first-ever continental title after winning the 2006 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup in Lagos. They beat Primeiro de Agosto in the final, and Mílton Barros was named the tournament MVP.
The 2010s were more balanced for the Angolan League in term of competition, with Petro winning the 2011, 2015 and 2019 title. On 19 December 2015, they won their second continental title after taking the 2015 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup at home in Luanda. Under head coach Lazare Adingono, Petro defeated another Angolan team Rec do Libolo in the final. American point guard Manny Quezada received MVP honours.
In September 2020, Petro announced the signing of Brazilian head coach José Neto.[2] Under Neto, a period of domination on the national level began.
In the 2021–22 season, Petro won the triple crown; winning its 15th national title, the Angolan Cup and the Supercup. In all league games, Petro was unbeaten and had a 31–0 record including the playoffs.[3] In the same season, Petro had another successful run in the BAL which ended with them losing the finals to US Monastir.[4] Ahead of the finals, head coach José Neto won the inaugural BAL Coach of the Year award.[5]
In 2023, Petro de Luanda won its 14th Angolan Cup, overtaking Primer de Agosto to become the club with the most cup titles in the country's history.[6] In the following 2023–24 season, Petro struggled in the Kalahari Conference of the BAL with a 2–2 record. On March 20, 2024, Petro announced it had terminated its contract with José Neto, ending his four-year tenure as head coach.[7]Sergio Valdeolmillos was hired as the team's new coach four days later.[8] Under Valdeolmillos, Petro recovered and on June 1, 2024, won their first-ever BAL championship after defeating Al Ahly Ly from Libya in the final.[9]
^ abThe 2019–20 league season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no champion was declared but Petro de Luanda qualified for the 2021 BAL season based on its first place after 14 played games.
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