Malcolm and Shelton make final cut

Jermaine Lannaman, Gleaner Writer

St George's College strikers Kemal Malcolm and Shamar Shelton, who three weeks ago guided their school to the Inter-Secondary School Sports Association (ISSA) urban and all-island titles, were yesterday named to Jamaica's Under-20 squad which will depart the island tomorrow for St Vincent and the Grenadines, where they will participate in Caribbean Football Union (CFU) final round of FIFA Under-20 World Cup qualifiers.

The prolific duo, who joined the squad late last month due to their high school football exploits, are among five strikers that were named to the squad. The others are Vancouver Whitecaps' Dever Orgill, Kingston College's bustling forward McKauly Tulloch nd Sporting Central's Academy's Alanzo Adlam.

Goal tally

However, while Malcolm was successful, it was not same the for St James High striker, Allan Ottey, who along with Malcolm, tallied 35 goals for their respective schools, to end as high school football's leading marksmen for 2008.

The Jamaicans will open their campaign on Friday with a game against perennial age-group nemesis Haiti, challenge the Dominican Republic on Sunday, before closing out their fixtures against the hosts next week Wednesday.

Also included in the squad is Meadhaven United and Park University defender, Robert Palmer, who after piloting Calabar High to the urban area Manning Cup honours in 2006, guided Jamaica College to similar honours in 2007. Palmer is in his second year of college.

Other members

Other members of the 18-man squad are: midfielders - Romario Campbell (Harbour View), Andre Steele (Bridgeport High, HVFC), Theo Brown (Waterhouse FC), Kadian Wynter (Sporting Central Academy), Evan Taylor (Reno FC), Davion Thorpe (Reno FC); defenders - Lynval Wilson (Reno FC), Andre Campbell (Portmore United), Andre Darby (Portmore United), Keithy Simpson (Sporting Central Academy), Levaunghn Williams (Lennon, Sporting Central Academy), Christopher Banner (Sporting Central Academy); and goalkeepers- Andre Blake (Clarendon College, Sporting Central Academy), Dennis Taylor (Reno FC).

The Junior Reggae Boyz are seeking to emulate the exploits of their 2001 counterparts, who qualified for the Under-20 FIFA World Cup in Argentina.

Should Jamaica emerge winners of this leg of the qualifiers, they will advance to the CONCACAF playoffs, which will be held in Trinidad and Tobago in March. Already through to the CONCACAF playoffs are the US, Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada.