FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Football - Men's Quarter-final - Morocco vs United States - Parc des Princes, Paris, France - August 02, 2024. Achraf Hakimi of Morocco celebrates scoring their third goal. REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/File Photo
RABAT, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Hosts Morocco have included African Footballer of the Year Achraf Hakimi in their 26-man squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, confident he will recover from an ankle injury in time to play.
There had been concern about the full back's availability for the tournament, which kicks off on December 21, after suffering a severe sprain of his left ankle during Paris St Germain's 2-1 defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League last month.
Coach Walid Regragui had already expressed optimism that Hakimi would be available to captain the team in the opening match against Comoros in Rabat.
"He's been working hard since his injury and doing what he has to do. He's a hard worker. He wants to be there from the first match," the Moroccan coach told French radio at the weekend.
Left out of the squad, but named as a reserve is Lille striker Hamza Igamane, who hurt his adductors playing against Olympique de Marseille last Friday.
Igamane has made a major impact in Ligue 1 and with the Morocco side and was expected to be a starter at the tournament for the hosts.
Morocco, who were semi-finalists at the last World Cup and are heavily fancied for home success, also take on Mali and Zambia in Group A.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Yassine Bounou (Al Hilal), Munir El Kajoui (Renaissance Berkane), El Mehdi Al Harrar (Raja Casablanca)
Defenders: Nayef Aguerd (Olympique de Marseille), Abdelhamid Ait Boudlal (Stade Rennais), Mohamed Chibi (Pyramids), Jawad El Yamiq (Al Najma), Achraf Hakimi (Paris St Germain), Adam Masina (Torino), Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United), Romain Saiss (Al Sadd), Anass Salah-Eddine (PSV Eindhoven)
Midfielders: Sofyan Amrabat (Real Betis), Eliesse Ben Seghir (Bayer Leverkusen), Brahim Diaz (Real Madrid), Neil El Aynaoui (AS Roma), Bilal El Khannous (VfB Stuttgart), Azzedine Ounahi (Girona), Oussama Targhaline (Feyenoord)
Forwards: Ilias Akhomach (Villarreal), Ayoub El Kaabi (Olympiakos), Youssef En-Nesyri (Fenerbahce), Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Real Betis), Soufiane Rahimi (Al Ain), Ismael Saibari (PSV Eindhoven), Chemsdine Talbi (Sunderland).
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by xx)
