Amapakabo List Nine Foreign-based Players for U23 AFCON Tourney

Ahead of the forth coming AFCON-23 Olympic football qualifying tournament, Coach Imama Amapakabo has listed nine foreign-based players among his preliminary invitees for the event slated for next month.

The tournament, which will come up in Egypt is to serve as the qualifier for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and as demanded by the Confederation of African Football (CAF), all coaches are mandated to forward their list of players for documentation ahead of their departure for the tournament.

A top official in the Glass House in Abuja confirmed yesterday that as many as nine players based abroad were included in the list with the coach keen on having a blend with home- based players who have been inactive for months because the domestic league season is yet to commence.

Although the full list of the nine players for the event is yet to be made public, the NFF through its Head of Communication, Ademola Olajire disclosed that some of the players had already joined the camp in readiness for the competition in Egypt.

Among the confirmed players are; Tom Dele-Bashiru, Orji Okonkwo and Kelechi Nwakali who captained the U-17 national team to World Cup glory in Chile four years ago.

Okonkwo, who plays for Canadian side, Montreal Impact joined the rest of the team on Monday as the overseas-based professionals continued to stream into camp ahead of this week’s departure to Egypt.

His arrival has given Head Coach lmama Amapakabo and his assistants more attacking options ahead of the tournament.