Guinea Bissau technician Emiliano Te’ has named his 20-man squad including 15 foreign-based for the Niger 2019 first leg doubleheader U20 AFCON preliminary qualifier, which will take place on April 1.
The Bissau’s U20 side are set to host Sierra Leone’s Shooting Stars on Sunday, at the 24 de Setembro Stadium, with the second leg expected to be played at Bo City Stadium.
Shooting Stars Cameroonian coach, Ken Tabi is faced with a tougher task. Sampdoria Primavera player Janclaudio Gomes Ricciulli, Chaves defensive midfielder Manuel Pami Costa, Ismael José Gomes from Porto and left-back João Vaz Mendes are some of the noticeable players in the Bissau’s side.
The Senegalese referees, who will be in charge of the contest, are Alioune Sow SANDIGUI (SEN), Amadou Ngom (SEN), and El Hadji Abdoul Aziz GUEYE (SEN).
This will be the 21st edition of the Total Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, the biennial international youth football tournament organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) for players aged 20 and below.
The winner between the two countries will face Nigeria’s Flying Eagles of Nigeria.
The Flying Eagles will then play away to the overall winners of this first round clash on May 11, 12 or 13 with the return leg in Nigeria a week later.
The overall winners of this clash will then feature in a final playoff which could involve Morocco/Mauritania or Guinea.
This final U20 AFCON qualifier is billed for July and Zambia are the defending champions.
The four semi-finalists will be at the 2019 FIFA U20 World Cup.
15 foreign-based below…
1 – Bubacar Sidibé (Alcanenense Portugal) 2 – Jefferson Encada (Olhanense Portugal) 3 – Samir Banjai (Desportivo de Chaves – Portugal 4 – Babagaldé Malam Baldé (SL Cartaxo Potugal) 5 – Emílio Paulo Mendes Biepar (Palencia Cristo Atlético – Spain 6 – Ismael José Gomes (Porto) 7 – Carlos Vaz Fernandes (FC Carregal de Sal – Portugal) 8 – Janclaudio Gomes Ricciulli (Sampdoria – Italy) 9 – Mada Alberto Pereira (Sport of the Birds) 10 – Florentino Luís da Silva (Sport of the Birds) 11 – Manuel Pami Costa (Chaves ) 12 – Umaru Esmeraldo Pereira (Real Sport Club Massamá) 13 – Al-Hassan Djassi Ould Hamed Lamin (Lazio Societa Sportiva SPA) 14 – João Vaz Mendes (Sport of Trofense) 15 – Roger AC Pinto (Rio Ave)
Home-based players below… 16 – Iano (Sport Bissau and Benfica), 17 – Ussumane Baipar (Sport Bissau and Benfica), 18 – Emerson (UDIB), 19 – Ivanov (UDIB), 20 – Salifo (Flamenco Pefine), 21 – Horácio Braima Djau (Club Sintra Football)
Sierra Leone U20 Previous Results
Sat 28/07/12 Sierra Leone 1 – 1 Cameroon U20
Sat 11/08/12 Cameroon 2 – 0 Sierra Leone U20
Fri 04/04/14 Sierra Leone 1 – 0 Guinea U20
Thu 24/04/14 Guinea 0 – 1 Sierra Leone
Fri 09/05/14 Sierra Leone 0 – 2 Ghana
Fri 23/05/14 Ghana 2 – 1 Sierra Leone
Sat 02/04/16 Sierra Leone 0 – 2 Gambia
Sat 23/04/16 Gambia 2 – 0 Sierra Leone U20
Compiled by Bissau Journalist Sene Camara’ (Seninho) and @bittar32 Follow us On Twitter @football_serra/Facebook Football Sierra Leone
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