Pepe recalled to Ivory Coast squad as replacement for injured Diomande

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pepe-nicolas/j3Hk0qEj/"]Pepe[/a] ‌had been left out of ‌the initial squad for friendlies [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ivory-coast-G2FRjBgn/south-korea-K6Gs7P6G/?mid=Ua91qRCr"]against ‌South Korea[/a] in Milton Keynes, England, on Saturday and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/ivory-coast-G2FRjBgn/scotland-fZRU25WH/?mid=OQQVWHwC"]Scotland ‌in Liverpool on March 31st[/a].[/p][p]The ⁠30-year-old ‌was also omitted from the Africa Cup ​of Nations tournament in Morocco at the turn of ​the year, where the Ivorians were defending their title but ⁠were eliminated ​at the quarter-final stage.[/p][embed guid="a2571d4d-8ae8-4231-ae2d-de1ed75fa803" url="https://x.com/FIFCI_tweet/status/2035851849861865569" social-type="twitter" /][p]The French-born former Arsenal striker, who has scored five LaLiga goals for Villarreal ‌this season, won the last of his 50 caps for the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ivory-coast/G2FRjBgn/"]Elephants[/a] in October but sparked controversy soon after for comments made in a YouTube video about Morocco’s poor record at the Cup of Nations.[/p][p]He apologised ‌but said he had been ​subjected to racial abuse online ‌and accused the Ivorian federation of not supporting him.[/p][p][b]Ivory Coast are in World Cup Group E with Ecuador, Germany and ⁠Curacao.[/b][/p]