Senegal without Baldé for Afcon qualifiers

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Oct 31, 2019. 17:00

Senegal coach Aliou Cisse will be without stalwart Keita Baldé for the start of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers as he named his squad of 24 players on Thursday.

Monaco forward Balde has not been considered by prior arrangement with Cisse so that he may stay with his pregnant wife, who is scheduled to give birth around the time of the matches against Congo-Brazzaville and Eswatini.

Aside from his other regulars, Cisse has called on three new faces for the qualifiers.

Defender Moussa Ndiaye, from the Excellence Foot club and a star of the national Under-20 side, has been included.

Former France junior international Mouhamadou-Naby Sarr, who plays for English Championship side Charlton Athletic, has also been included, along with striker Mame Baba Thiam from Turkish side Kasimpasa.

Senegal will face Congo on November 13 in Thies, before their trip to Eswatini six days later.

The west Africans were runners-up at the 2019 finals, where they were edged 1-0 by Algeria in the decider.

Senegal squad:

Goalkeepers: Abdoulaye Diallo (Gençlerbirligi, Turkey), Alfred Gomis (Dijon, France), Edouard Mendy (Rennes, France).

Defenders: Salif Sané (Schalke 04, Germany), Kalidou Koulibaly (Naples, Italy), Lamine Gassama (Göztepe, Turkey), Moussa Wagué (FC Barcelona, ​​Spain), Racine Coly (Nice, France), Saliou Ciss (Nancy, France), Mouhamadou-Naby Sarr (Charlton, England), Moussa Ndiaye (Foot Excellence).

Midfielders: Idrissa Gueye (PSG, France), Badou Ndiaye (Stoke City, England), Krépin Diatta (Brugge FC, Belgium), Cheikhou Kouyaté (Crystal Palace, England), Sidy Sarr (Lorient, France), Mamadou Loum (FC Porto, Portugal).

Strikers: Sadio Mané (Liverpool, England), Ismaïla Sarr (Watford, England), Mbaye Niang (Rennes, France), Famara Diedhiou (Bristol City, England), Habib Diallo (Metz, France), Mame Baba Thiam (Kasimpasa, Turkey), Sada Thioub (Angers, France).