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Ghana,
one of Nigeria’s first round opponents at the African Youth
Championship (AYC) have named their final squad for the tournament but
there was no space in the squad for former France junior international
Kelvin Osei who is now out of the tournament after delays in acquiring
a Ghanaian passport for him.

Marseille-born
Osei, who plays his club football with Olympique Marseille and who had
previously captained the French Under-17 side, was part of the squad
that has spent the past two weeks in Naivasha, Kenya but missed out on
the final squad released by coach Orlando Wellington.

Wellington said the midfielder was released by the technical team from Nairobi back to his base in Marseille.

But despite the
unavailability of the five feet, eight inches tall midfielder who
joined Marseille from regional side Olympique Saint Maximinois in 2003
and went on to become a first-team player in 2009, Wellington can count
on the services of nine overseas based players for the AYC.

They include the
Genoa of Italy duo of Richard Baokye-Yiadom and Masawudu Alhassan and
the Hapoel Be’er Sheva of Israel pair of Bright Addae and James Bissue.

The list also
includes Kwame Nsor of French side Metz, Benfica of Portugal’s Enoch
Ebo Andoh and Canada-based Gershon Koffie who plays for the Vancouver
Whitecaps.

The Ghanaians had
initially planned on having as many as 11 overseas-based players in
their AYC squad but were unable to secure the release of Marseille’s
Jordan Ayew, whose brother Andre Ayew captained the Black Satellites,
as the team is officially known, to the AYC title two years ago.

They were also not
able to secure the release of the Italy based duo of Daniel Kofi Agyei
(Fiorentina) and Afriyie Acquah (Palermo).

But irrespective of the absence of these players, the Ghanaian coach is optimistic his side will retain the AYC trophy.

Wellington said
that with nine foreign-based players in his stable, he was confident
his team will make an impact in the forthcoming tournament even as he
revealed the secret behind Ghana’s success at age-grade tournaments.

“We have invested
immensely in the youth and that is why we have achieved a lot. Once you
start with the youth teams, your work as a coach becomes easier
especially when you are conducting any selection,” he said.

He added: “We have
enjoyed our stay in Naivasha where the climatic conditions are similar
to what we are going to get in South Africa. God willing we shall
retain the trophy which we won last year in Kigali, Rwanda.”

Gambia also name squad

Meanwhile, Gambia,
who will be competing in Group B along with Cameroun, Ghana and Nigeria
has also named its final 21-man team for the tournament.

Lamin Sarr, coach
of the team, known as the Darling Scorpions, named the team after its
training at the Brikama Box Bar Stadium.

The list includes
Ousman Jarju of Spanish giants Atletico Madrid; Omar Jassey (San Jose
Earthquake, USA), Omar Colley (Kansas City Wizards, USA), Matarr Jobe
(FC Valour, Iceland), Ebrima Camara (Gonilis FC, Sweden), Ebrima Kanteh
Ndow (FC Salt, Spain), Saihou Gassama (Real Zaragoza, Spain) and
Baboucarr Jammeh (Rush Academy, USA).

Croatia-based defender Lamin Samateh was left out of the squad after his club blocked his release for the tournament.