Algeria retains European flavour for Mali friendly

ALGIERS, Nov 13 (Reuters) New Algeria coach Rabah Saadane retained a strong contingent of European-based players in his 21-man squad for next week's friendly against Mali.

Appointed after Algeria's failure in September to reach next year's African Nations finals, Saadane selected 17 players who ply their trade in Europe for the match in Rouen, France.

Squad: Goalkeepers: Lounes Gaouaoui (Widad Tlemcen), Mohamed Ousserir (Chabab Belouizdad) Defenders: Madjid Bougherra (Charlton Athletic), Ismael Bouzid (Galatasaray), Mohamed Rabie Meftah (JS Kabylie), Mehdi Meniri (Bastia), Anthar Yahia (VfL Bochum), Samir Zaoui (ASO Chlef), Abderraouf Zarabi (FC Gueugnon) Midfielders: Chadli Amri (FSV Mainz), Nader Belhadj (Lyon), Yacine Bezzaz (Valenciennes), Yazid Mansouri (Lorient), Karim Ziani (Marseille) Strikers: Salim Arrache (Marseille), Hameur Bouazza (Fulham), Mansour Boutabout (Sedan), Nouredine Daham (Kaiserslautern), Kamel Fathi Ghilas (Vitoria Guimaraes), Karim Matmour (SC Freiburg), Rafik Saifi (Lorient).

REUTERS CS KP1225