“We are in this competition with the intention of writing a new page in Ivorian football,” stated Ivory Coast domestic-based national team coach Soualiho Haïdara to the media after unveiling his squad list for the 2022 African Nations Championship in Algeria. The Local Elephants arrived in Tunisia over the weekend to continue their preparations for the competition before heading to the host nation with friendly matches scheduled against Mauritania and Libya during their stay in Tunisia. The first friendly against Libya will take place on January 3 and the team will leave for Algeria on January 10.
Haïdara and his team are clear about their expectations which is to win the competition, something Ivory Coast has not done as they prepare for their fifth appearance. In late December the coach named his list of 25 players for the competition with Ivorian champions ASEC Mimosas by far the most represented club. Nearly half of the team are composed of players from the famous African club with eleven players included from the team that produced Ivorian superstars Kolo Touré, Yaya Touré and Didier Zokora. ASEC midfielder Essis Aka Baudelaire will captain the squad in Algeria with club teammates Aubin Kramo and 19-year-old forward Karamoko Sankara likely to be involved in the attack.
Ivory Coast are in what is anticipated to be a highly competitive Group B with DR Congo, Senegal and Uganda. The Local Elephants will face Senegal in their opening match on January 14, a match that will be a stern early test for Haïdara and his team who are looking to exceed their best ever performance in the competition, a third place finish at the 2016 edition in Rwanda.
The full CHAN squad is further below.
