Algeria to announce Afcon squad next week

Widely tipped 2015 Afcon favourites, Algeria, could likely be the first to announce their squad for the Equatorial Guinea championship next Monday.

Head coach of the Desert Foxes, Christian Gourcuff, says there will be no drama about his call-ups as the core of the team is largely known already.

He will officially reveal his final 23-man squad on December 15 with few on the standby just to cater for injury setbacks during the pre-tournament preparation period.

“The final list of 23 players selected for the 2015 Afcon will be known on 15 December,” said the Frenchman.

“We will also call some reserves to counter possible injury. There will be no surprises. The core of the team is known and, except in cases of force majeure, it will not be messed up.”

The Algerians are placed in a tough group for the 2015 Afcon with South Africa, Ghana and Senegal.

Gourcuff, who was speaking at a press briefing on the group situation and his plans for a successful campaign, added that there are few spots left in the team to be filled and will go to players who deserve them.

"Some places are still hanging. They will go to those who just deserve them,” he stressed.

He continued that they play to win and will maintain their system: "The objective of Algeria is to win every game. We play to make the game do not adapt to the opponent. We play 4-4-2, with Brahimi playing as a striker. We may suffer against these opponents as was the case against Mali during the qualification stage but I have the experience [to contain it],” the former Lorient coach explained.

Due to the Afcon draw, Algeria’s planned friendly with South Africa has been called off. The Desert Foxes will now play North African rivals Tunisia on January 11 as their only pre-tournament warm-up match.