Mauritius coach Denis Dookee has named his 20-man selection for the 2018 MOPANI Copper Mines COSAFA Under-20 Championships to be staged in Kitwe, Zambia from December 2-14.

Dookee has named a young squad that relies heavily on players from the Under-17 age-group category, including eight players aged only 16.

The oldest player is midfielder Princeley Boudeuse, who is 19, as Dookee looks ahead to the qualifiers for the 2021 African Under-20 Championships that are scheduled for Mauritania.

Mauritius have been drawn in Group B at the COSAFA Under-20 Championships in Kitwe and will take on defending champions South Africa in their opening match on December 3.

They clash with Eswatini three days later, before rounding out their pool play against Namibia on December 8.

Only the top team in each pool and the best-placed runner-up advance to the semifinals.

“It will be difficult, but I know I’m capable,” Dookee said previously. “I have the ability to have a great tournament with this group.”

Having taken just a single point from six matches in the two tournaments before the 2016 showpiece event, they came within a whisker of reaching the knockout stages two years ago.

They needed to beat Angola in their final pool game to advance, but were held to a 1-1 draw to end the campaign unbeaten with a win and two draws, their best showing to date in the competition.

But that was followed by disappointment in 2017 when they lost all three of their games without scoring a goal.

Mauritius squad:

Goalkeepers: Jean Michel, Owen Rabot

Defenders: Yoan Dupre, James Sophie, Jean Gentil, Jean Francois, Louis Philibert, Guilan Collet

Midfielders: John Lan Yee Chiu, Jean Antoine, Jean Aristide, Jean Aristide, Louis Jackson, Princeley Boudeuse, Vashist Calcutta 

Strikers: Adrien Francois, Adriano Chiu Chung Fat, Jean Roussety, Jeremy Kawoa, Ludovic Milazar