Manchester City duo Kolo and Yaya Toure join Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote, Arsenal forward Gervinho and Wigan striker Arouna Kone in Lamouchi's selection ahead of the Elephants' pre-tournament trip to Abu Dhabi and subsequent friendly match with Egypt on January 14. Abdul Razak, 20, of Manchester City is also included a line-up that boasts Shanghai Shenhua striker Didier Drogba, Galatasaray defender Emmanuel Eboue and Trabzonspor midfielder Didier Zokora, all of whom had spells in England with Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham respectively. The Ivory Coast, who open their campaign against Togo on January 22, will also face Tunisia and Algeria in the group stages of a tournament hosted by South Africa. The final will take place in Johannesburg on February 10. Lamouchi told the Ivorian federation's official website:
"I have chosen 23 players that I expect will work hard in Abu Dhabi and I hope they will all be available to go to the African Nations Cup.
"I did not want to pick more than 23 players and cause too much bad feeling among the group when the final list is announced."
Squad: Barry (Lokeren), Yeboah (Dijon), Ali Sangare (IAFC), Bamba (Trabzonspor), Boka (Stuttgart), Eboue (Galatasaray), Lolo (Kuban Krasnodar), Tiene (Paris St Germain), K Toure (Manchester City), I Traore (Brest), Razak (Manchester City), Romaric (Real Zaragoza), Gradel (St Etienne), Tiote (Newcastle), Y Toure (Manchester City), Ya Konan (Hannover), Zokora (Trabzonspor), Drogba (Shanghai Shenhua), Kalou (Lille), Kone (Wigan), L Traore (Anzhi Makhachkala), Bony (Vitesse Arnhem), Gervinho (Arsenal).
Source: team_talk
