QPR’s Taraabt not in Morocco’s African Nations Cup squad

Morocco have left Queens Park Rangers (QPR) forward Adel Taraabt out of their 24-man African Nations Cup squad for the finals which start in South Africa next month.

The 23-year-old does not feature on the list of players for the tournament, which runs from Jan. 19 to Feb. 10, published on the Royal Moroccan Football Federation website (www.frmf.ma).

The mercurial Taraabt has been out of favor with the national team but hoped to have done enough to impress Morocco coach Rachid Taoussi, who took charge in the summer.

“I hope to be at the African Nations Cup but even if I’m not there, and that would be painful, I’ll be the biggest Morocco supporter,” he said on the lequipe.fr African soccer blog.

Last year, the talented player attracted the interest of French Ligue 1 club PSG, who made an estimated offer of around nine million pounds after his key role in helping QPR win a promotion.

After scoring four goals in 14 matches this season, Taarabt proved to be a great asset to QPR.