Bony makes AFCON squad, Gervinho axed

by Austin Ditlhobolo

Monday Jun 10, 2019. 17:00

There is no place for Parma attacker Gervinho in Ivory Coast's final 23-man squad for this month's Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.

The former Arsenal winger scored 11 goals in 30 Serie A appearances this past season, but failed to make the cut.

Wilfried Bony, though, did enough to convince Elephants head coach Ibrahim Kamara of taking him to a fifth AFCON tournament. The former Manchester City and Swansea City forward was part of the team that won the 2015 title.

Also not considered for the continental showpiece is Manchester United centre-back Eric Bertrand Bailly who misses the tournament due to injury.

The attacking duo of Wilfried Zaha and Nicolas Pepe headlines the 23-man squad following outstanding seasons in England and France respectively.

Ivory Coast squad:

Goalkeepers: Sylvain Gbohouo (TP Mazembe, DR Congo), Ali Badra (Free State Stars, South Africa), Tape Ira (FC San Pedro).

Defenders: Serge Aurier (Tottenham, England), Wilfried Kanon (ADO The Hague, Netherlands), Wonlo Coulibaly (ASEC Mimosas), Ismaël Traoré (Angers, France), Mamadou Bagayoko (Red Star, France), Cheikh Comara (Wydad Casablanca, Morocco), Souleyman Bamba (Rennes, France).

Midfielders: Jean-Philippe Gbamin (Mainz, Germany), Geoffrey Serey Dié (Neuchâtel Xamax, Switzerland), Jean-Michaël Seri (Fulham, England), Victorian Angban (Metz, France), Franck Kessié (AC Milan, Italy) , Ibrahim Sangaré (Toulouse, France).

Forwards: Max-Alain Gradel (Toulouse, France), Nicolas Pépé (Lille, France), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace, England), Jonathan Kodjia (Aston Villa, England), Roger Assalé (Young Boys Bern, Switzerland), Maxwel Cornet (Lyon, France), Wilfried Bony (Unattached).