According to Mosaique FM, Tunisian national team coach Faouzi Benzarti has announced his final list of 23 players who will make up the roster at the upcoming African Cup of Nations in Angola. The news came a day after the Carthage Eagles travelled to Abu Dhabi where they began their second training camp.
Though Benzarti had originally called up 26 players in his preliminary list, there were only 24 left for him to pick from since it was already known that both Valenciennes’ Fahid Ben Khalfallah and Club Africain’s Youssef Mouihbi would not be featuring in the continental competition after the former refused to join the team and the latter was ruled out with an adductor injury.
Thus there was only one player left to cut from the squad and the unfortunate one who was left out was Esperance Sportive de Tunis centre-back Syam Ben Youssef. The Bastia product has quickly become an important player for his club side and could still potentially be used by Benzarti in the future considering his young age and talent.
Here is the team in full:
Goalkeepers: Aymen Mathlouthi (Etoile), Adel Nefzi (CA), Farouk Ben Mustapha (CAB)
Defenders: Souheil Berradhia (Etoile), Khalil Chammam (Esperance), Radhouane Felhi (1860 Munich), Karim Haggui (Hannover), Bilel Ifa (CA), Ammar Jemal (Etoile), Yassine Mikari (Sochaux), Khaled Souissi (CA)
Midfielders: Chaouki Ben Saada (OGC Nice), Ousemma Darragi (Esperance), Zouheir Dhaouadi (CA), Chedi Hammami (Sfaxien), Khaled Korbi (Esperance), Haythem Mrabet (Sfaxien), Mohamed Ali Nafkha (Etoile), Houcine Ragued (Slavia Prague)
Strikers: Ahmed Akaichi (Etoile), Amine Chermiti (Al-Ittihad), Issam Jemaa (Lens), Youssef Msakni (Esperance)
