Africa Cup of Nations Special

*English premier league clubs players who are leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana which runs from January 20 – February 10. Arsenal – Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast), Alexandre Song (Cameroon) Birmingham -Richard Kingson (Ghana), Mehdi Nafti and Radhi Jaidi (Tunisia) Blackburn – Aaron Mokoena (South Africa) Bolton – El-Hadji Diouf (Senegal), Abdoulaye Meite (Ivory Coast) Chelsea – John Obi Mikel (Nigeria), Didier Drogba and Saloman Kalou (Ivory Coast), Michael Essien (Ghana) Everton – Joseph Yobo and Ayegbeni Yakubu (Nigeria), Steven Pienaar (South Africa) Liverpool – Nabil El-Zhar (Morocco), Muhammed Sissoko (Mali) Middlesbrough – Mohamed Shawky and Mido (Egypt), Newcastle – Obafemi Martins (Nigeria), Geremi (Cameroon), Abdoulaye Faye and Habib Beye (Senegal) Portsmouth – Papa Bouba Diop (Senegal), Nwankwo Kanu and John Utaka (Nigeria), Sulley Muntari (Ghana), Lauren (Cameroon) Reading- Andre Bikey (Cameroon), Emerse Fae (Ivory Coast), Ibrahima Sonko (Senegal) Sunderland – Dickson Etuhu (Nigeria) Tottenham – Hossam Ghaly (Egypt), Didier Zokora (Ivory Coast) West Ham United – John Pantsil (Ghana), Henri Camara (Senegal) Wigan – Salomon Olembe (Cameroon), Julius Aghahowa (Nigeria)

* Guinea Coach Robert Nouzaret has named his final list of players going to Ghana for the tournament .

Goalkeepers:  

Kemoko Camara (unattached), Naby Diarso (Satellite FC), Naby Yattara (RACS Couillet, Belgium)

Defenders:  

Dianbobo Balde (Celtic), Habib Jean Balde (Reims), Alseny Camara (Rodez), Ibrahima Camara (Le Mans), Kevin Constant (Toulouse), Mohamed Alimou Diallo (Sivasspor), Daouda Jabi (Trabzonspor), Oumar Kalabane (Manisaspor), Kamil Zayatte (Young Boys Berne)

Midfielders:  

Mohamed Cisse (Bursaspor), Pascal Feindouno (St Etienne), Samuel Johnson (Ismaili), Mohamed Sacko (Etoile Sahel), Naby Soumah (CS Sfaxien), Kanfory Sylla (Sivasspor) Strikers:  

Ismael Bangoura (Dynamo Kiev), Karamoko Cisse (Verona), Victor Correa (Cherbourg), Fode Mansare (Toulouse), Souleymane Youla (Lille).  

Mali coach Jean Francois Jodar has announced his final squad

Goalkeepers:  

Soumbeyla Diakite (Stade Malien), Mahamadou Sidibe (PAS Giannina, Greece), Oumar Sissoko (Metz)

Defenders:  

Adama Coulibaly (Lens), Moussa Coulibaly (Mouloudia Alger), Souleymane Diamoutene (Lecce), Cedric Kante (Nice), Boubacar Sidiki Kone (Maghreb Fes), Amadou Sidibe (Djoliba), Adama Tamboura (Helsingborg), Sammy Traore (AJ Auxerre)

Midfielders:  

Souleymane Dembele (Djoliba), Drissa Diakite (Nice), Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid), Seydou Keita (Sevilla), Djibril Sidibe (Chateauroux), Momo Sissoko (Liverpool), Bassala Toure (Levadiakos, Greece)

Strikers:  

Mamadou Diallo (Qatar SC), Mahamadou Dissa (Roeselare, Belgium), Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla), Mamady Sidibe (Stoke City), Dramane Traore (Lokomotiv Moscow).  

Moroccan coach Henri Michel announces final squad:

Goalkeepers:  

Abdelilah Bagui (Maghreb Fes), Khalid Fouhami (Raja Casablanca), Nadir Lamyaghri (Wydad Casablanca)

Defenders:  

Jamal Alioui (FC Sion Switzerland), Abdessamad Chahiri (Difaa El Jadida), Mickael Chretien (Nancy, France), Talal El Karkouri (Qatar SC, Qatar), El Armine Erbate (Al Dafra, United Arab Emiratyes), Hicham Mahdoufi (Metalist Kharkiv, Ukraine), Abdeslam Ouaddou (Valenciennes, France)

Midfielders:  

Soufiane Alloudi (Al Ain, United Arab Emirates), Badr El Kaddouri (Dinamo Kyiv, Ukraine), Abderrahmane Kabous (CSKA Sofia, Bulgaria), Houcine Kharja (Piacenza, Italy), Abdelkrim Kissi (EN Paralimini, Cyprus), Youssef Safri (Southampton, England), Tarik Sektioui (FC Porto, Portugal)

Forwards:  

Hicham Aboucherouane (Esperance, Tunisia), Maroune Chamakh (Girondins Bordeaux, France), Bouchaib El Moubarki (Grenoble, France), Youssef Hadji (Nancy, France), Youssef Moukhtari (Al Jazeera, Qatar), Moncef Zerka (Nancy, France).  

* Egypt midfielder Mohamed Barakat has been ruled out of this month’s African Nations Cup finals in Ghana because of a knee injury. Barakat, who helped Egypt to win the tournament two years ago, will instead be travelling to Germany for an operation, his club Al Ahli of Cairo said on Friday.

Egypt are still hoping that striker Ahmed ‘Mido’ Hossam, who plays for English club Middlesbrough, will recover from a groin injury in time for the start of the tournament on Jan. 20.  

* Zambia midfielder Andrew Sinkala has withdrawn from African Nations Cup finals after being hospitalised with a chest infection, the Football Association of Zambia said. There is also doubt about the availability of the country’s other German-based player, defender Moses Sichone, who is recovering from a rib injury and failed to join Zambia’s pre-tournament preparations in Spain. Sinkala is from second division SC Paderborn while Sichone plays at Kickers Offenbach.

* South Africa and Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar (25) wants to be given special permission to delay his departure for the African Nations Cup. He wants to play against Chelsea in the Carling Cup before linking up with his South African team-mates. The South African squad come together tomorrow (5 January) but, with the Carling Cup semi-final clash occurring three days later, Pienaar hopes a compromise can be reached.

* Ghana coach Claude LeRoy has named his injured captain Stephen Appiah in a 28-man line up for the Nations Cup. Appiah has been told he has no chance of playing because of long-standing injury problems, but Leroy wants him to act as an inspiration to the squad.  

* Cameroon have cancelled their pre-Nations Cup training camp in Kenya, because of the post-election violence in the country. The Indomitable Lions were to train at high altitude in Kenya. Coach Otto Pfister has announced that the team will instead prepare for the Nations Cup in Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou.

* Moroccan Striker Youssef Hadji is his country to win the African Nations Cup in Ghana next month. The Atlas Lions have an amazingly poor Nations Cup record despite their reputation as one of Africa’s giants. They won the tournament but have appeared in just one other final, losing to hosts Tunisia in 2004.