Zahoui axes Ne, Kone for Cup

Ivory Coast manager Francois Zahoui has left out Marco Ne and Ibrahim Kone from his final 23-man squad for the African Cup of Nations.

Zahoui has picked his final squad for the African showpiece on Tuesday, axing Kuban Krasnodar midfielder Ne and 22-year-old goalkeeper Kone of French Ligue 2 side Boulogne.

The Ivorians are fine tuning for the tournament in Abu Dhabi, and will play two friendly matches against Tunisia on Friday and Libya on Monday.

Drawn in Group B, Ivory Coast will begin their campaign against Sudan on January 22, before locking horns with familiar neighbours Burkina Faso, who held them to goalless in the previous edition.

The Didier Drogba-led team will wrap up their group phase task against the Palancas Negras of Angola on January 30.

Squad: Copa Barry, Gerard Gnanhouan, Daniel Yeboah, Benjamin Angoua, Sol Bamba, Arthur Boka, Emmanuel Eboue, Igor Lolo, Siaka Tiene, Kolo Toure, Didier Zokora, Cheick Tiote, Kafoumba Coulibaly, Gosso Gosso, Max Gradel, Didier Ya Konan, Yaya Toure, Seydou Doumbia, Didier Drogba, Gervinho, Kader Keïta, Salomon Kalou and Wilfried Bony.