Wilfried Zaha Fails to Make Ivory Coast’s AFCON Squad
Former England international Wilfried Zaha has not been selected to join the Ivory Coast’s Africa Cup of Nations squad in January. Despite switching from the Three Lions to the West African nation in 2017, the Galatasaray winger is still struggling to secure international football opportunities.
Zaha made the decision to change allegiance to Ivory Coast in the hopes of earning more international caps than he did for England. However, his move has not paid off as coach Jean-Louis Gasset did not include the 31-year-old in his 27-man squad for the African Cup of Nations.
This exclusion may not come as a surprise for Zaha, as he has only played in two friendlies for Ivory Coast this year. Additionally, he missed their Cup of Nations qualifiers and last month’s first round of World Cup qualifying.
The Ivory Coast squad for the tournament includes players like Serge Aurier from Nottingham Forest, Ibrahim Sangare, and Willy Boly. Sebastien Haller from Borussia Dortmund and RB Salzburg’s Karim Konate will also feature and face Guinea-Bissau in the tournament’s opener on January 13th.
Zaha began his Ivory Coast career five years ago when he switched from the England team ahead of AFCON 2017. Although born in the West African nation, Zaha grew up in England from the age of four.
After spending a total of eighteen years across four spells at Crystal Palace, Zaha declined to renew a contract worth £200,000 a week with the Eagles last season. He then made a move to Turkish giants Galatasaray, where he currently earns an annual salary of £3.7 million.
Despite his exclusion from the Ivory Coast squad, Zaha has made a decent start at Galatasaray, scoring six goals in 20 appearances. One of his notable goals came against his former club Manchester United in a 3-2 win for Galatasaray at Old Trafford.
Now, Zaha will shift his focus to delivering a strong performance for his club as they face rivals Fenerbahce in a Turkish Super Cup fixture on Friday night.