National coach Madjid Bougherra confirmed that the local football team will be strengthened with new players to compete in the 2025 Arab Cup.

The tournament will be held in Qatar from December 1 to 18, where the local team will participate to defend its title won in the 2021 edition.

Bougherra stated that the current squad is not final and will be reinforced later with new players in preparation for the Arab Cup, while some players who have not proven their worth wearing the “Greens” jersey will be excluded.

The coach refused to reveal the names of the new players or those who did not convince him, in media statements on Monday evening at the “19 May 1956” stadium in Annaba, following the local team’s 1-0 loss to Palestine. The two teams had met in a friendly match last Thursday at the same venue, where Bougherra’s team won 3-0.

It is rumored that Bougherra is considering calling up midfielder Yacine Brahimi (Al-Gharafa, Qatar) and playmaker Adam Ounas (Al-Sailiya, Qatar) due to their experience and skills.

In any case, Bougherra will avoid the scenario of December 2021 and coordinate with national coach Vladimir Petković to finalize the list of players who will participate in the Arab Cup and not in the Africa Cup of Nations finals in Morocco starting December 21.

Bougherra described the two matches against Palestine as useful, considering that the local national team will face opponents of similar level in the Arab Cup.

The team is expected to play two more friendly matches in the international window of next November.

It should be noted that Bougherra explained after last Thursday’s match the reasons for not calling up some players, including attacking midfielder Abdelkahar Kadri (Gent, Belgium), striker Moncef Bakrar (Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia), and midfielder Yacine Titraoui (Charleroi, Belgium), due to clubs refusing to release them or injury concerns.

The Arab Cup is held at a date not included in the FIFA calendar, making it difficult to bring professional players from Europe.