Tottenham defender Sebastien Bassong has been overlooked for Cameroon's African Cup of Nations squad.
Spurs receive boost as defender misses African Cup of Nations
Tottenham centre-back Sebastien Bassong has been overlooked for Cameroon's African Cup of Nations squad.
Bassong had been expected to take his place in Paul Le Guen's 23-man party along with Spurs team-mate Benoit Assou-Ekotto.
Assou-Ekotto has been included but Le Guen has left out Bassong, which will come as a boost to his club manager Harry Redknapp.
Redknapp had expressed concern about the prospect of losing two key defenders, especially with Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate currently sidelined through injury.
Bassong has been a mainstay of the side since moving to White Hart Lane over the summer and his omission from the Cameroon squad is a shock considering his good form this season.
Le Guen's other selections are less surprising and he has named several British-based players ahead of the tournament in Angola.
Arsenal midfielder Alex Song, Burnley's Andre Bikey, Geremi of Newcastle and Celtic's Landry N'Guemo are all in the squad.
Le Guen has also picked the uncapped pair of Schalke defender Joel Matip and Valenciennes goalkeeper Ndy Assembe alongside the experienced Rigobert Song 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 5th January before heading to Angola, where they will face Group D games against Gabon, Zambia and Tunisia.
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 N'Guemo (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).