Yves Bissouma hasn’t made an appearance for Tottenham Hotspur this season mainly due to injuries. This saw him miss five matches for Mali in the last three international breaks.
The midfielder started in Mali’s 4-1 World Cup qualifier win over Madagascar in October.
His situation at Tottenham didn’t stop Mali manager Tom Saintfiet including the 29-year-old in his list for AFCON. They are set to face Zambia later today in the first group stage fixture.
Saintfiet has confirmed the Tottenham player is out of the match-day squad due to injury. Pierrot Le Foot have relayed his comments.
The coach says the national team’s doctors are in regular contact with the Spurs medical staff over his injury situation.
“In many major tournaments, some players start with injuries and then become their team’s most dangerous players in the quarterfinals, semifinals, or final. Hakimi is also on Morocco’s roster, and there’s a reason for that, because he’s one of those great players who are important,” he said.
“Yves is my captain; he’s important, he’s a leader of our team. But we didn’t make this decision alone. Our doctor is in contact with Tottenham’s medical staff.
“We have assurances that Yves will be ready during the tournament. When the matches get tougher, we’ll be glad to have him with us. We need a captain who’s present both mentally and physically.”
Pierrot Le Foot report there’s hope within the national team camp that Bissouma returns to training to face Morocco on Boxing Day.
Bissouma has played 42 matches for his country so far. His absence due to an injury will be a big miss for Mali against Zambia on Monday.