MALI will be without their injured skipper, Bassirou Dembele at this month’s African Youth Championship, which gets underway in Rwanda on January 18.

According to Goal.com, officials from the Mali football federation, Femafoot, disclosed that Dembele, who recently signed for top French club Paris Saint-Germain, has been left out of the final squad for the Under-20 tournament after he failed to recover in time from a hamstring injury.

Dembele, 18, featured for the famous Salif Keita Centre in Bamako before his transfer to Europe. He is widely regarded as a very promising defensive midfielder, who is quick and strong.

In the meantime, the ‘Young Eagles’ of Mali, as they are called, have departed for Bujumbura, Burundi, where they plan to acclimatise and put finishing touches to their preparations for the competition. 

They are drawn in Group A along with host nation Rwanda, two-time champions Ghana and 1995 champions Cameroon.

The semi-finalists at this tournament will represent Africa at the Fifa World Youth Championship to be hosted by Egypt between September 25 and October 16.

Africa could well be represented by five countries should Egypt qualify for the semi-finals of the African Youth Championship.

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