Sporting centre-back could boost Rui Borges’ squad in January | OneFootball

The Ivory Coast coach has left Ousmane Diomande out of the squad for the national team's upcoming matches. The absence of the Sporting player comes as something of a surprise and could even be an indication of what is to come soon in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Both Diomande and Hidemasa Morita were left out of their respective national team call-ups. The absence of the Japanese midfielder was expected, given the protocol that Sporting agreed with the Japanese Federation, to safeguard the physical condition of the green and white player.

Diomande's absence from the Ivory Coast squad is more surprising. The green and white center-back was injured in one of the first games of the season and only recently returned to action, in the match against Paços de Ferreira.

Although he has since regained his place in Sporting’s defense, it seems he has not done enough to convince his national team coach that he deserves a spot in the Ivory Coast squad, and will indeed miss the national team’s upcoming fixtures, which will also be the final tests before the Africa Cup of Nations, to be played at the start of 2026.

As such, the door is now open for Ousmane Diomande to be left out of the African competition. The center-back has been a regular pick for his national team, but these developments could change the situation. Despite the bad news for the player, Rui Borges and Sporting fans are grateful, as they may not lose an important member of the squad for about a month in the middle of the season.

Check out here the celebratory video of Diomande’s 100 matches for Sporting:

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.