The Gambia have unveiled an 18-man squad that will feature in the maiden West African Football Union (Wafu) tournament schedule to take place in Nigeria this later week.

The Gambian side, which will be guided by coaches Alagie Sarr and Pa Suwareh, left Banjul last night for Nigeria participate in the competition that is meant for the under 20 sides of the sub-regional countries. The Gambian squad is dominated by the under 20 players who recently failed to qualify for the African Youth Championship in Rwanda and a hanful of the victorious under 17 players, including strike duo Ebrima Bojang and Alasana Camara.

The Darling Scorpions will begin their chase of the coveted cup against Guinea on Friday, November 28, before taking on neighbours, Senegal, two days later. The Gambia will round up their group match against against  familiar opponents, Ghana, on December 2.

The competition would also see hosts, Nigeria who are paired in Group A alongside Togo, Benin and Guinea Bissau. Group C consist of Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Mauritania whilst Mali, Cape Verde, Niger and Liberia make up Group D. The revived matches of the sub-regional competition will be staged in four centres across southern Nigeria Delta States from November 28 to December 8.

According to the competition rules, the first two teams from each group after the round-robin will progress to the quarterfinals, with the winners advancing to the semi final stage. The final and third place match comes off on December 8. See inside  for  Gambia’s Wafu Cup squad