Algeria have called up midfielder Adel Bourbée to their training camp as a replacement for the injured Nabil Bentaleb. The national team announced the inclusion of the young player on Monday for the squad preparing for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers this month.
Bentaleb suffered the injury while playing for Lille in their 2-1 Ligue 1 loss to Nice on Sunday. The extent of the injury and the expected duration of the 31-year-old's absence have not been disclosed. The midfielder has earned 63 international caps.
Adel Bourbée, aged 21, receives his first senior national team call-up. He has made five appearances for Le Mans in Ligue 1 this season. Coach Ibrahim Hamdani decided to include him in this camp.
Hamdani took over as head coach after leading the team to a gold medal at the Mediterranean Games last month, replacing Vladimir Petković following Algeria's Round of 32 exit at the World Cup last summer.
The team is preparing to host Zambia on September 25 in the ninth group match of the 2027 AFCON qualifiers, which is the next fixture on the schedule. Four days later, they will travel to face Burundi. A friendly against Niger is also scheduled for October 6.
This call-up comes with Algeria sitting third in World Cup qualifying with four points from three games. The team will look to improve on a recent run of two wins, one draw, and two losses in their last five outings, starting with a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland on July 3.
This story first appeared at إرم نيوز
