LUANDA (FIBA World Championship for Women) - Angola's women's national team head coach Anibal Moreira announced his preliminary squad, which includes an unprecedented number of young players with realistic chances of making it to the 2014 FIBA World Championship for Women.

Nevertheless, the omission of Nacissela Mauricio, Catarina Camufal, Ngiendula Filipe and Astrida Vicente, a quartet that played key roles for Angola's last two AfroBasket Women titles, has generated heated debates across the basketball-loving country, with some critics calling for Moreira to explain whether the players' age was the only reason behind his decision.

All four players are over the age of 30, while both Madalena Felix and Felizarda Jorge retired from their playing careers for personal reasons.

Mauricio was named the MVP of the past two editions of the FIBA Africa Championship for Women. Last summer, the 34-year-old led the African champions in scoring in Mozambique, maintaining her leading scorer role from the London Games.

Before Moreira dropped the bombshell, Camufal had been the starting point guard in recent years and was poised to play her first FIBA World Championship for Women in Turkey, where Angola will play in Group D against the USA, China and Serbia.

Since Jaime Covilha replaced Moreira at the helm of Angolan giants Primeiro D'Agosto a couple of months ago, a lot has changed.

Mauricio helped D'Agosto beat African and national champions Inter Clube de Luanda in the final of the 2014 Campeonato Nacional Feminino de Basquete before doubling their success with a win in the final of the Angolan Cup on Tuesday.

Since the announcement of the 15-player squad last Friday, Moreira has made it clear that Angola was planning its future and selecting the likes of Rosa Gala, Artemis Barbosa, Leticia Andre, Helena Zumo, Ana Goncalves, Merciana Fernandes, Rosemira Daniel, Helena Viegas and Mafalda Barcelos reflected a preparation for the AfroBasket Women 2015, which will be held in Cameroon and will serve as a qualifier for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

According to sources with knowledge in this case, the Angolan Basketball Federation is to issue a public announcement on Friday regarding the preliminary squad selection.

In the Turkish city of Istanbul, Angola will open its Group Phase campaign against Serbia on 27 September, before taking on China in Day 2 and will square off against the world champions USA on 30 September.

Moreira's preliminary squad also includes Fineza Eusebio, Sonia Guadalupe, Luisa Tomas, Nadir Manuel, Clarisse Mpaka and Whitney Miguel.

FIBA