Liverpool captain Gabriano Shelton’s AFCON omission explained
SA U17 head coach Duncan Crowie has explained the omission of Liverpool captain Gabriano Shelton in his final squad for the 2023 Under-17 AFCON.
Crowie announced the 21-man squad that will participate in the upcoming CAF 2023 U17 Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON].
The tournament will take place in Algeria from 29 April to 19 May 2023.
Coach Crowie had initially named 30 players in his provisional squad. On Tuesday, he trimmed it to 21.
This comes after Amajimbos reported to camp on 9 April 2023. Crowie and his technical team had enough time to assess the players to come up with the best final squad to represent the country in Algeria.
South Africa are pitted in a “Group of Death” [Group B] alongside Nigeria, Morocco and neighbours Zambia.
But sadly, Liverpool skippee Shelton has been left out of the Amajimbos’ final squad.
Only three overseas-based players made it to the final squad. This was from the initial eight abroad players who were in the preliminary squad.
THE THREE SELECTED OVERSEAS-BASED PLAYERS
The trio abroad selected players are goalkeeper Kyle Jansen from Atlanta United [USA], defender Waylon Renecke of Norwich City [England], and Vitesse’s forward Michael Dokumnu [Holland].
WHY GABRIANO SHELTON NOT SELECTED BY DUNCAN CROWIE
According to digital scout and overseas player monitor Prince Sobayeni, Shelton is not in the squad due to health issues.
The youngster has been sick with a bug for a few days before the final squad announcement and ended up being hospitalised.
He started being sick around Thursday-Friday last week.
The youngster experienced Diarhoa, migraine, couldn’t eat, and lost weight and energy.
The Amajimbos technical team opted against taking him to the AFCON competition fearing that he will relapse.
Shelton will return home where he will focus fully on his recovery.
Even before his sickness, the Liverpool rising star missed out on a lot of training sessions fixing his passport issues.
This happens a few months after he made a heartfelt plea to coach Crowie and his assistant Aaron Mokoena to be considered for selection.
The squad will jet off to Algeria on Friday, 21 April 2023.
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