Africa Cup of Nations: Wilfried Zaha earns Ivory Coast recall

The
recall
comes
after
coach
Patrice
Beaumelle
did
not
pick
the
29-year-old
for
World
Cup
qualifiers
in
November,
saying
Zaha
had
opted
out
and
wanted
to
“reflect
on
the
rest
of
his
international
career”.

Zaha
responded
to
Beaumelle’s
comments
at
the
time
by
saying
that
representing
his
country
was
something
he
would
“never,
ever
take
for
granted”.

Zaha
has
scored
five
goals
in
16
appearances
for
Palace
in
the
Premier
League
this
season.

Ivory
Coast,
winners
in
1992
and
2015,
will
compete
in
Group
E
with
Algeria,
Sierra
Leone
and
Equatorial
Guinea
at
the
tournament,
which
gets
underway
on
January
9.

The
Ivory
Coast
open
their
campaign
against
Equatorial
Guinea
on
January
12
followed
by
further
group
games
against
Sierra
Leone
and
Algeria.

The
experienced
line-up
also
includes
Ajax
centre-forward
Sebastien
Halle,
and
six
members
of
the
team
that
lifted
the
trophy
for
the
second
time
in
2015,
notably
defenders
Serge
Aurier
and
Eric
Bailly
as
well
as
striker
Max
Gradel.

Cameroon
was
originally
awarded
the
hosting
of
the
2019
finals
but
the
tournament
was
switched
to
Egypt
when
the
Confederation
of
African
Football
(CAF)
found
the
central
African
country
was
not
ready.

Cameroon
was
then
handed
the
2021
tournament,
which
has
since
been
delayed
by
12
months
due
to
the
coronavirus
(COVID-19)
pandemic.

The
tournament,
which
was
initially
under
doubt
over
the
new
Omicron
variant
of
COVID-19
will
go
ahead,
the
organisers
confirmed.

CAF
President
Patrice
Motsepe
said
the
fast-spreading
Omicron
variant
of
COVID-19
posed
“an
enormous
challenge”
for
the
organisers
but
added,
“we
must
always
identify
problems
and
challenges,
and
not
shy
away
from
them.

Fans
will
also
be
required
to
show
proof
of
vaccination
and
present
a
negative
COVID-19
test
result
to
attend
matches,
CAF
officials
confirmed.

“I
am
going
to
watch
on
the
9th
of
January,
Cameroon
and
Burkina
Faso,”
Motsepe
said,
referring
to
the
opening
match
of
the
2022
tournament.

The
CAF
chief
had
flown
to
the
Cameroonian
capital
Yaoundé
amid
concerns
over
the
country’s
readiness
to
host
the
tournament.

These
included
worries
over
a
lack
of
organisation,
incomplete
building
work
and
the
threat
of
coronavirus
outbreaks
among
the
large
number
of
players
and
staff
set
to
descend
on
the
under-resourced
country
in
the
next
few
weeks.

Motsepe
gave
the
green
light
for
the
event
to
go
ahead
after
talks
with
Cameroonian
president
Paul
Biya.

IVORY
COAST
SQUAD

Goalkeepers:
Sylvain
Gbohouo
(Wolkite
Ketema/ETH),
Badra
Ali
(JDR
Stars/RSA),
Ira
Tapé
(FC
San
Pedro),
Cissé
Abdul
Karim
(Asec
Mimosas)

Defenders:
Serge
Aurier
(Villareal/ESP),
Éric
Bailly
(Manchester
United/ENG),
Willy
Boly
(Wolverhampton/ENG),
Wilfried
Kanon
(Pyramids
FC/EGY),
Odilon
Kossonou
(Bayer
Leverkusen/GER),
Simon
Deli
(Adana
Demirspor/TUR);
Ghislain
Konan
(Reims/FRA)

Midfielders:
Habib
Maiga
(Metz/FRA),
Serey
Die
(FC
Sion/SUI),
Ibrahim
Sangaré
(PSV
Eindhoven/NED),
Jean
Daniel
Akpa
Akpro
(Lazio/ITA),
Franck
Kessie
(AC
Milan/ITA),
Hamed
Junior
Traoré
(Sassuolo/ITA),
Jean
Michael
Seri
(Fulham/ENG)

Forwards:
Maxwell
Cornet
(Burnley/ENG),
Max
Gradel
(Sivasspor/TUR),
Jérémie
Boga
(Sassuolo/ITA),
Wilfried
Zaha
(Crystal
Palace/ENG),
Jean
Évrard
Kouassi
(Trabzonspor/TUR),
Nicolas
Pépé
(Arsenal/ENG),
Christian
Kouame
(Anderlecht/BEL),
Sebastien
Haller
(Ajax/NED),
Johan
Boli
(Al-
Rayan/QAT),
Konaté
Karim
(Asec
Mimosas)

(With
inputs
from
Agencies)