The capital Luanda erupted in a fervour of celebration that was tinged with a hint of relief after the home team beat Malawi 2-0 in their second game of the tournament.
The dominant performance helped wipe away the disappointment of Angola's capitulation in Sunday's opening match against Mali, where the hosts were four goals up with a little more than 10 minutes remaining but contrived to draw 4-4.
"I thought we played as well against Mali as we did against Malawi," coach Manuel Jose told reporters after Thursday's win.
"The only difference was us gifting all those goals in the last minutes of our first game. The feeling now is so much better and to be first in the group would be our first choice."
"Algeria will be tough to beat but we have high morale in our camp. We did not sleep well after the Mali match but we have now shown our strength," captain Kali added.
However, Jose believes his squad has the potential to go all the way on home soil. "We have the best attack at this competition with six goals in two games already," he added.
