GAMBIA SCREEN PLAYERS FOR U-17 SELECTION

As part of preparations for the 2018 WAFU tournament to be hosted in Senegal, Abdoulie Bojang the new head coach for the Gambia national U17 football team and his technical team are in the process of screening players.

The coach initially started the trials with sixty players and, after a week of intensive training thirty players are dropped and the remaining thirty are currently working with the technical team before the final selection will be made.

The final selected players will represent Gambia in the WAFU tournament that will be used as a qualifying platform for the AFCON under 17 championships slated for 2019.

Speaking about the trials head coach Abdoulie Bojang is satisfied with the way the trial is going as he stated: “the training is going fine, there is maximum cooperation and discipline the boys are working hard as we are eager to achieve something”.

The coach further added that they are in the process of developing players both technically and tactically as they should be the feature players for the senior national team.

Head Coach, Abdoulie Bojang

The screening process criteria being employed by the coach includes specific skillset that the players are expected to possess. “technically you have to be good to be part of the national team and the awareness also should be good”. Bojang states.

The assistant coach Foday Bah explains the difference between the players dropped and the ones maintained and also the plans of the technical team.

“Of course the players dropped are good but we still have good players, we looking for certain things, the quality and the hunger in the players. We want to develop, is development right now” Bah noted.

Omar Jasseh popular by the name “waterman” a former national youth player for the Gambia who is a frequent face at the training sessions of the young lad’s advices the players to work hard and show maximum respect to the officials.

The provisional list of selected players will continue training with the officials for a week, before the final list of twenty-six players will be select to officially represent Gambia as the national U17 football team at the WAFU tournament to be held in Dakar this September.