Karim Zito, head coach of Black Satellites, has explained the rationale behind his decision to leave out Bechem United's Clinton Duodu for the WAFU Zone B U-20 Championship in Niger.

With his performances in the Ghana Premier League, the youngster was tipped to be a part of the Satellites team to defend the title they won two years ago. However, the player failed to make the 18-man squad assembled by Zito for the tournament.

Followers of the national team and the Premier League have questioned the decision not to take the player to Niger following his omission from the squad.

"Your team's performance will bring you to the national team and when you come to the national team, I don't judge you by your club performance but by what you show me in the national team to select you," Zito said.

Adding to Clinton, he also spoke about Legon Cities' Osman Amadu as well as why the pair did not make the final cut to join the national team.

"When they came I was even wondering what is happening with Clinton. For Amadu of late, he doesn't play. All the time Adamu is on the bench. All the friendly matches we played, they were on the bench so why should I bring them. They didn't perform well does why I decided to drop them", he said at the post-match conference.”

The Black Satellites, who are the defending champions of the WAFU Zone B U-20 Championship suffered a disappointing start to their campaign after losing 2-0 to the flying eagles of Nigeria. Goals from Ibrahim Muhammad and Ahmed Abdullahi in each half of the game were enough to secure all 3 points for the Nigerians