Africa-Press – Angola. Winger Islando Manuel and center forward Cleusio Castro have returned to the national basketball team for the first qualifying games for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar, after missing several call-ups in recent years.
Islando, from Sporting de Luanda, and Cleusio Castro, from Petro de Luanda, were among the 12 selected for the African champions in the 2021/22 season, in the qualifying phase for the 2023 World Championship held in the Philippines.
This time, they earned the trust of coach Pep Clarós for the tournament to be held in Alexandria, Egypt.
Winger Bamba Cissé, from 1o de Agosto, is the only newcomer of the group, shooting guard Timotio Francisco from Interclube, is part of the delegation as a reserve.
Angola begins the qualifying campaign against Uganda (on Feb 26), before facing Egypt (on Feb 28) and Mali (March 1), in Group D of the race to the Qatar World Cup.
The national team is seeking its 10th participation in the world event, after the editions in Spain (1986), Argentina (1990), Canada (1994), United States (2002), Japan (2006), Turkey (2010), Spain (2014), China (2019) and Philippines/Japan/Indonesia (2023).
Here are the 12 selected players:
Point Guard:
Childe Dundão (Petro de Luanda)
Shooting Guard:
Gerson Likeny (Petro de Luanda)
Selton Miguel (Nevezis Kėdainiai, Lithuania)
Shooting Guard:
Eduardo Francisco (Sport Lisboa e Benfica)
Milton Valente (Petro de Luanda)
Bamba Cissé (1o de Agosto)
Power Forward:
Aboubakar Gakou (Petro de Luanda)
Macachi Braz (Basket Corunha, Spain)
Islando Manuel (Sporting de Luanda)
Power Forwards:
Bruno Fernando (Partizan, Serbia)
Kevin Kokila (JL Bourg-en-Bresse, France)
