AfCON 2012 : Pitroipa definitely in the squad

Paulo Duarte, the Portuguese national coach of Burkina Faso, announced his list of twenty-three players for the next African Cup of Nations, this Wednesday. After he called twenty-five players on December 22nd, two were finally left out of the final squad.

As expected, Rennes’ Jonathan Pitroipa will be travelling to Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. He will join several other Ligue 1 players such as Lyon defender Bakary Koné, Marseille’s Charles Kaboré or Auxerre’s Alain Traoré. In its group, Burkina will face Ivory Coast, Sudan and Angola.
Until yesterday, Burkina Faso faced the possibility of an exclusion from the competition, accused by Namibia of playing with an unqualified player during the preliminary phases. The complaint of the Namibian federation has finally been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Pitroipa is the third Rennais to be officially selected for the AfCon, after Hadji and Mangane. Pre-selected, John Boye (Ghana) and youngster Fantamady Diarra (Mali) are still waiting for the official announcement of their respective national coaches. The lists are to be made public and transmitted to the African Confederation of Football (CAF) no later that this Wednesday.