Algeria add five to preliminary football World Cup squad

Five more players were added to Algeria's preliminary World Cup squad before the start of a training camp in Switzerland on Thursday, the Algerian Football Federation said.

Coach Rabah Saadane, criticised for selecting several uncapped players from Algeria's large Diaspora in Europe instead of those domestically-based, responded by including a trio from champions Entente Setif in his now 30-man squad.

Lazhar Hadji Assia, Hocine Metraf and Khaled Lemmouchia, who was sent home for indiscipline in January's African Nations Cup finals, were all included after helping Setif to qualify for the group stage of the African Champions League last weekend.

There were also call-ups for defender Mohamed Meftah of JS Kabylie and forward Amri Chadli, who signed for newly promoted German club Kaiserslautern this week.

Algeria have been drawn in Group C for the June 11-July 11 finals in South Africa alongside England, America and Slovenia.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Faouzi Chaouchi (Entente Setif), Lounes Gaouaoui (ASO Chlef), Rais Ouheb Mbouli (Slavia Sofia), Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche (Mouloudia Algiers)

Defenders: Habib Belaid (Boulogne-sur-Mer), Nader Belhadj (Portsmouth), Majid Bougherra (Rangers), Rafik Halliche (Nacional), Abdelkader Laifaoui (Entente Setif), Carl Medjani (Ajaccio), Mohamed Meftah (JS Kabylie), Djamel Mesbah (Lecce), Hocine Metref (Entente Setif), Antar Yahia (VfL Bochum)

Midfielders: Djamel Abdoun (Nantes), Lazhar Hadj Aissa (Entente Setif), Riad Boudebouz (Sochaux), Adlane Guedioura (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Fouad Kadir (Valenciennes), Medhi Lacen (Racing Santanader), Khaled Lemmouchia (Entente Setif), Yazid Mansouri (Lorient), Mourad Meghni (Lazio), Hassan Yebda (Portsmouth), Karim Ziani (VfL Wolfsburg)

Forwards: Amri Chadli (Kaiserslautern, Germany), Rafik Djebbour (AEK Athens), Abdelkader Ghezzal (Siena), Karim Matmour (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Rafik Saifi (Istres)