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Spurs defender Sebastien Bassong misses out on African Nations Cup
23 Dec 2009Tottenham defender has not been included in the Cameroon squad for next month's African Nations Cup.
The 23-year-old, who moved to White Hart Lane from Newcastle in the summer, missed a couple of qualifying games but had been expected to join team-mate Benoit Assou-Ekotto in Paul Le Guen's 23-man group.
His omission will come as a boost for Spurs boss Harry Redknapp, who has been without central defenders Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate for much of the season due to injuries.
Assou-Ekotto has been selected, along with Arsenal's Alex Song, Newcastle's Geremi, Burnley's Andre Bikey and Celtic's Landry Nguemo.
Le Guen also picked the uncapped pair of Schalke defender Joel Matip and Valenciennes goalkeeper Ndy Assembe alongside the experienced Rigobert Song, who will participate in his eighth ANC, and the tournament's record goalscorer Samuel Eto'o of Inter Milan.
The Indomitable Lions, beaten finalists in the 2008 tournament, will spend six days in Kenya from January 5 before heading to Angola, where they will face Group D games against Gabon, Zambia and Tunisia.
Cameroon squad: Carlos Kameni (Espanyol), Hamidou Souleymanou (Kayserispor), Guy N'Dy Assembe (Valenciennes), Rigobert Song (Trabzonspor), Geremi (Newcastle), Henri Bedimo (Chateauroux), Andre Bikey (Burnley), Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham), Aurelien Chedjou (Lille), Nicolas Nkoulou (Monaco), Alex Song (Arsenal), Jean Makoun (Lyon), Stephane Mbia (Marseille), Georges Mandjeck (Kaiserslautern), Joel Matip (Schalke), Enoh Eyong (Ajax), Landry Nguemo (Celtic), Achille Emana (Real Betis), Somen A Tchoyi (Salzburg), Paul Alo'o Efloulou (Nancy), Achille Webo (Mallorca), Mohamadou Idrissou (Freiburg), Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan).
Reader views (5)
We hear every year the same nonsense spouted. To catch us up, you need to complete the building of a new stadium, replace Harry with a top four quality manager, replace the majority of your team with top four quality players. Tottenham have been playing above themselves this season & are still only in 5th place, with Man City & Liverpool likely to finish above them. The longer you have Harry in place the worse your finances will become, assuming he survives the tax charges made against him. All Harry has achieved in a year is to restore you to the 5th place the excellent Martin Jol had achieved two seasons running & at what financial cost, dont be fooled by the massaged last set of figures, nor by the current 5th place. You will finish 6th at best, remember my prediction.
- Rob Gooner, North London, 24/12/2009 09:21
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Just shows that we are getting to the Arsenal supporters when they have to start making comments like that. It might take another season but we are coming for you gooners !!! Just look at what Harry has done in a year, it is all about keeping the same manager in place for a period of time & the longer we have Harry in place the better we will be.
- David Spurs, Kent England, 23/12/2009 15:36
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Hmmmm interesting that Bikey (Burnley) is preferred to Bassong ??? That would be like selecting Walcott over Lennon!
- Paxton, N17, 23/12/2009 14:37
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Great news! He's been quality so far this season along with Dawson. Shame they picked BAE tho.
- Paxton Pat, London, 23/12/2009 13:16
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Im not all surprised, as he is a very average defender, certainly not international class.
- Arsene Rednapp, Yaounde, Cameroon, 23/12/2009 12:54
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