AfCON 2012: Boye included, Diarra left out

There will finally be four Rennes players at the 2012 African Cup of Nations, which will be played from 21st January until 12th February.

With Hadji, Mangane and Pitroipa, John Boye will also take part in the competition. First included in a pre-selection of twenty-five players, the Rennes defender is one of the twenty-three players who have convinced the national coach Goran Stevanovic after a short training camp in South Africa. The latter finally decided to get rid of two forwards (Derek Asamoah and Emmanuel Baffour) and call up no less than nine defenders to make his list.
In this squad, Boye will reunite with former Rennais John Mensah and Asamoah Gyan. This will be his first major international competition.

The young Cheick Fantamady Diarra will not have the same opportunity. Pre-selected with Mali by Alain Giresse, the young forward arrived in Brittany last summer is not one of the 23 players who will play in the AfCON.

1. _ He will therefore return to Rennes in the next few days and will be available to Laurent Huard and Frédéric Antonetti. The added absences of Hadji and Pitroipa could give him an opportunity to appear in Ligue 1 for the first time.