Final 21 Starlets confirmed

Rosalind K. Amoh Sports News May - 11 - 2017 , 12:18

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has confirmed the final list of Ghana's Under-17 team, Black Starlets, for this year's African Under-17 Championship which opens in Gabon on Sunday.

Coach Paa Kwesi Fabin named an initial 23-man squad but as mandated by tournament regulation, confirmed the final 21 yesterday.The final list is made up of three goalkeepers, seven defenders, six midfielders and six forwards.

The Starlets, who have been in Gabon since last Saturday to round up their preparation for the competition, are in Group A and will open their campaign against Cameroun on Sunday, play hosts, Gabon on May 17 and wrap up their group campaign against Guinea on May 20.

Despite the tight group they find themselves in, the Starlets, African and world champions in 1991 and 1995, have their sights set on a semi-final berth which will also qualify them for this year’s World Championship.

“The last 10 years has not been good for Ghana football, especially at the U-17 level as we have failed to make it to the World Cup, which hitherto was a constant feature for the country. So the main aim of this team will be to qualify to the World Cup slated for India,”Coach Fabin has intimated.

This will be Coach Fabin’s third attempt to qualify the Starlets to the World Championship. At the first attempt, the Starlets failed to qualify while they were banned at the second attempt in 2015 for fielding overaged players during the qualifiers.

Starlets’ final squad, their jersey numbers in brackets:

Goalkeepers: Danlad Ibrahim (1), Kwame Aziz (16), Michael Acquaye (21)