Morocco's Belhanda out of African Nations Cup

AFP , Friday 23 Dec 2016,

Younes Belhanda (Photo: Reuters)

On form Nice midfielder Younes Belhanda will be out of action for up to six weeks with a toe injury that rules him out of the Africa Cup of Nation in Gabon.

One of France's top performers of the Ligue 1 season so far, the loss may be a blow for table toppers Nice, but the 26-year-old would have been at the AFCON in Gabon for the 14 January - 5 February event anyway.

Belhanda won the French Ligue 1 title with Montpellier in 2012 and followed that with two Ukraine titles at Dynamo Kiev, and has been crucial to Nice as they approach the holidays two points ahead of Monaco and five points clear of champions PSG.

He picked up the injury on Wednesday as Nice slugged out a key 0-0 draw at Bordeaux.

The injury is a major disappointment for Morocco coach Herve Renard, whose charges are in group C with Ivory Coast, DR Congo and Togo.

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO_Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports)

Search Keywords:

AFP

Morocco

Belhanda

football

soccer

20 African Cup of Nations

Short link:

ADD COMMENT

Your name: *

Your email: *

Comment’s Title: *

Comment:

Ahram Online welcomes readers' comments on all issues covered by the site, along with any criticisms and/or corrections. Readers are asked to limit their feedback to a maximum of 4000 characters (roughly 200 words). All comments/criticisms will, however, be subject to the following code

We will not publish comments which contain rude or abusive language, libelous statements, slander and personal attacks against any person/s.
We will not publish comments which contain racist remarks or any kind of racial or religious incitement against any group of people, in Egypt or outside it.
We welcome criticism of our reports and articles but we will not publish personal attacks, slander or fabrications directed against our reporters and contributing writers.
We reserve the right to correct, when at all possible, obvious errors in spelling and grammar. However, due to time and staffing constraints such corrections will not be made across the board or on a regular basis.