Yanga foreign stars called up for international duty

07Mar 2023
Michael Mwebe
Sport
The Guardian
Yanga foreign stars called up for international duty

AT least four Yanga players are expected to be on national duty during the coming March FIFA international break.

All four Yanga players have enjoyed some game time with the Jangwani Street giants since the start of the season.

Striker Fiston Mayele, Kennedy Musonda, goalkeeper Djigui Diarra and midfielder Stephane Aziz Ki are the four Yanga players who are set to represent their countries as the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers group stage is set to resume at the end of this month.

DR Congo national team coach, Sebastien Desabre, included Mayele in his provisional 42-man squad that will take on Mauritania in a Group I double-header.

The 2022/23 NBC Premier League leading scorer faces tough competition to make it to the DR Congo final squad from high-profile forwards playing in Europe.

Simba SC’s defender Henock Inonga is also part of the provisional squad.

January signing Musonda is part of the Zambia squad which is scheduled to battle it out with Lesotho on March 23 and March 26 respectively in Group H matches.

Aziz Ki is in the Burkina Faso squad that will take on Togo on March 24 and March 28 in Group B games.

The promising attacking midfielder has scored five times and assisted twice in 18 league games for Yanga so far.

He joined Yanga from Ivory Coast’s ASEC Mimosas at the start of the season.

Diarra is among four goalkeepers who were named in Mali’s squad which will face Gambia in a Group G doubleheader.

The shot-stopper has been in and out of the Mali squad since he joined Yanga from Mali’s Stade Malien at the start of last season.

He was the first-choice goalkeeper for Mali during the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt but has since fallen down the pecking order.

He was the NBC Premier League best goalkeeper last season and he is well on course to defend his crown with only six games to go before the end of the current campaign.

With Tanzania and Uganda yet to unveil their squads, Yanga will see more players reporting for international duties.

Bakari Mwamnyeto, Dickson Job, and Kibwana Shomari have been part of the Taifa Stars while Khalid Aucho continues to be a very important player for Uganda’s Cranes.

Tanzania and Uganda will meet in back-to-back African Cup of Nations qualifiers’ ties on March 24 in Egypt and March 27 in Dar es Salaam in Group F.

Both teams need victories to retain any hope of making it to Ivory Coast behind group leaders Algeria.

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