Basketball: Dejan Prokic's 12-man squad named
Basketball: Dejan Prokic's 12-man squad, as reported by Sport News Africa
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Dejan Prokic, coach of the Elephants, has announced his final squad of 12 for Window 6 of the 2023 World Cup qualifiers, which will be played from 24 to 26 February 2023 in Luanda, Angola. Of the 15 players on the last provisional list, 8 were unable to answer the national team's call. Assemian Moularé, Adjehi Baru, Maxence Dadiet, Cedric Bah and Amadou Sidibé pulled out through injury, while Bazoumana Koné, Patrick Tapé and Ismaël Sanogo were unable to get released.
The situation led the Slovenian coach to reshape his group and bring in new players who have been tracked for several months by the National Technical Directorate. They are Moussa Koné, a centre who plays for Cantabria in Spain, François Kuyo (Cergy-Pontoise, France) and Jean-Philippe Dally (Châlons Reims, France), both forwards.
A fresh injection of youth in this Ivorian 12 comes from Dominique Diomandé (18 years old, 2m02, Blois, France) and above all Malick Souaré (17 years old, 2m04, Global, Côte d'Ivoire), whose inclusion raises the number of home-based players from 3 to 4.
Sanh Séverin
The list
1. Souleyman Diabaté (Petro Luanda, Angola)
2. Bryan Pamba (Rennes URB, France)
3. Samba Dieng (Azur, Côte d'Ivoire)
4. Charles Abouo (Le Portel, France)
5. Jonathan Laworé (Azur, Côte d'Ivoire)
6. Vafessa Fofana (Gravelines, France)
7. Nohonin Yann (HBUC, Côte d’Ivoire)
8. Dominique Diomandé (Blois, France)
9. François Kuyo (Cergy-Pontoise, France)
10. Jean-Philippe Dally (Châlons Reims, France)
11. Malick Souaré (Global, CIV)
12. Moussa Koné (Cantabria, Spain)