DR Congo omits Yoane Wissa from AFCON 26-Man squad after months out of action

KINSHASA: The Democratic Republic of Congo has omitted forward Yoane Wissa from their 26-man squad for the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday, as the player has not featured since October.

Wissa, 29, suffered a knee injury while on international duty and has yet to appear on the pitch for Newcastle United since his move from Brentford at the start of the Premier League season.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe confirmed that Wissa has returned to training, taking part in a full 11-a-side session during their trip to Everton. Howe added that Wissa will have another session later this week to assess how close he is to returning to action.

“Yoane participated in an 11 v 11 training game while we were at Everton,” Howe said.

“He’ll have another one at some stage this week, and we’ll see how close he is to returning to action.”

Despite this, DR Congo coach Sebastien Desabre has left Wissa out of the squad for this month’s tournament in Morocco.

The team’s first match will take place on 23 December in Rabat against Benin, with Botswana and Senegal also competing in Group D.

Desabre has retained faith in the squad that won last month’s World Cup African playoff, earning a spot in the inter-confederation playoffs in Mexico in March.

DR Congo will face either New Caledonia or Jamaica for a place at the World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.