Head Coach of Mauritania Amir Abdou has revealed his final 27 -man squad list on Monday for the Africa Cup of Nations tournament billed for Ivory Coast. The team will go head-to-head with 2013 finalists Burkina Faso, 2010 hosts Angola and 2019 champions Algeria in Group D.
There are two major talking points from the list: 19-year-old Oumar Ngom, playing in the French lower division made the cut and there is also a surprising return for former Ligue 1 midfielder El Hadji Ba who last featured for the national side in March. It looks like a winning return for the player, as he recently penned down a deal with FC Nouadhibou.
Named in the squad are familiar faces like captain Aly Abeid, TP Mazembe's Ibrahima Keita, former Guingamp player Guessouma Fofana, Hemeya Tanji and Bakary N'Diaye, who recently came out of retirement. Striker Aboubakary Koita, currently the fourth-top scorer in the Belgium championship this season, makes the cut as well.
However, there are seven home-based players in the squad, including six coming from the same team, FC Nouadhibou, who are currently making history by playing in the group stages of the CAF Champions League.
The Mauritanians will continue with their AFCON preparations in Tunisia up until January 6th, when they will be involved in a warm-up game with the Carthage Eagles of Tunisia.
