AFCON Hosts Ivory Coast Unveil 27-Man Squad

By Sedara Philip

Africa Cup of Nations hosts Ivory Coast included a smattering of overseas stars in their 27-man squad for the 13 January- 11 February competition released on Thursday.

The Ivory Coast’s French manager Jean-Louis Gasset has called up Borussia Dortmund striker Sebastien Haller, Monaco defender Wilfried Singo, and midfielders Ibrahim Sangare of Premier League side Nottingham Forest, Seko Fofana (Al Nassr) and Franck Kesslie (Al Ahli).

But missing from Gasset’s list are Galatasary forward Wilfried Zaha and Beskitas defender Eric Bailly.

The Ivory Coast are drawn in Group A alongside Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria and Equitorial Guinea.

IVORY COAST SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Yahia Fofana (Angers/FRA), Charles Folly (Asec Mimosas), Badra Ali (Sekhukhune United/RSA)

Defenders: Serge Aurier (Nottingham Forest/ENG), Willy Boly (Nottingham Forest/ENG), Ismael Diallo (Hajduk Split,/CRO), Ousmane Diomandé (Sporting Lisbon/POR), Ghislain Konan (Al-Feiha/KSA), Evans N’dicka (Roma/ITA), Odilon Kossonou (Bayer Leverkusen/GER) Wilfried Singo (Monaco/FRA)

Midfielders: Jean-Thierry Amani Lazare (Union Saint-Gilloise/BEL), Idrissa Doumbia (Alanyaspor/TUR), Seko Fofana (Al Nassr/KSA), Ibrahim Sangaré (Nottingham Forest/ENG), Franck Kessié (Al-Ahli/KSA), Jean-Michael Seri (Hull/ENG).

Forwards: Simon Adingra (Brighton/ENG), Jonathan Bamba (Celta Vigo/ESP), Jérémie Boga (Nice/FRA), Sébastien Haller (Borussia Dortmund/GER), Karim Konaté (RB Salzburg/AUT), Christian Kouamé (Fiorentina/ITA), Jean-Philippe Krasso (Red Star Belgrade/SRB), Max-Alain Gradel (Gaziantep/TUR), Oumar Diakité (Reims/FRA), Nicolas Pépé (Trabzonspor/TUR)