Laryea Kingston names Black Starlets squad for WAFU U17 Championship

Black Starlets head coach Laryea Kingston has named a 20-man squad for the 2023 WAFU B U17 Championship.

Ghana will be playing the tournament as hosts, with the various games set to be played at the newly constructed University of Ghana Sports Stadium.

The Black Starlets are paired in Group A alongside the Ivory Coast and Benin and will play their opening game against the former on Wednesday, May 15.

Kingston has named a diverse squad that is dominated by players from clubs in the lower divisions of Ghana football.

Banana Inn FC’s Bilal Adjevi and Attram De Visser duo Hamza Iddrisu and Mark Mensah have been included in the squad.

Ebenezer Anane of Benab FC and Godfred Sarpong of Still Believe FC are also there, while Accra Great Olympics’ Benjamin Tsivanyo and Golden Strikers’ Harve Gbafa also made the squad.

Ahead of the start of the tournament, Kingston believes the Black Starlets are ready for the challenge as hosts.

“Immediately we finished the game against Kazakhstan, we put it in their head that this is over,” he said last week, as quoted by 3Sports.

“Now the most important tournament is coming up. We are working and no one is stepping off the treadmill. We are on the treadmill because we have a mission.”

Meanwhile, the tournament will serve as the qualifying pathway for the 2024 U17 Africa Cup of Nations.