Dortmund's African contingent get call-ups as Guirassy and Bensebaini off to AFCON qualifiers
Borussia Dortmund's current African players Serhou Guirassy and Ramy Bensebaini have received call-ups by their respective national teams Guinea and Algeria this month.
The club football is set for a massive three-week hiatus for an extended international window starting from this week, and will continue until the first week of October.
Guirassy back with Guinea
Serhou Guirassy is all set for a comeback with the Guinean national football team this month after the prolific striker was summoned by manager Paulo Duarte for this month's AFCON qualifiers.
As the National Elephants failed to qualify for the World Cup, the west African minnows had a quite summer but did play Northern Ireland for a friendly game back in June.
Guirassy, who had already wrapped-up another successful club season with the BVB by then, was missing in action entirely.
But as competitive games return, the 30-year-old's services will be vital as Guinea aim to qualify for the AFCON finals again after missing out on the last edition in 2025.
Ranked 81st in the world, the side are scheduled to play South Africa in Johannesburg on 26 September before hosting Kenya in Conakry, two days later.
Both fixtures appear potential banana skin on paper as Guinea will depend on their star marksman to produce the goods upfront.
Guirassy has started the new season with Dortmund on a rich vein of form, bagging four goals and two assists from six appearances in all competitions.
Bensebaini back with Algeria after World Cup
Ramy Bensebaini is back with Algeria's squad as the north African giants prepare for their first set of games post the 2026 FIFA World Cup where the Desert Warriors made a Last-32 finish.
After Vladimir Petkovic left his position as their manager, Brahim Hemdani was appointed as the new man to lead the charge and has called-up a vibrant mix of young and senior players.
Among the experienced contingent of Algerian stars is Bensebaini, who has 86 caps with his national team and completed 90 minutes in all four World Cup games this year.
He's endured a troublesome start to the new season with Dortmund, sustaining a rib injury during their curtain-raiser with Bayern Munich that forced him off of their next few games.
Since recovering, he's played only 21 minutes across two league fixtures but getting called-up to the national team regardless highlights his importance in the side.
Algeria play Zambia (H) and Burundi (A) in Group I of the AFCON qualifiers before an international friendly to Niger at home on 6 October.
