AFC Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola has backed the decision to hand Antoine Semenyo a rest period during the international window.
Semenyo excluded himself from getting called up by the Black Stars due to a high accumulation of games; the Black Stars drew 1-1 with Angola and lost 2-1 to Niger in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers.
The 24 year old spoke about how playing with freedom has aided his brilliant start to the season where he has registered four goals and an assist in 11 games in an interview with Sky Sports. (Click highlighted text to read full story)
In his pre-game presser ahead of Bournemouth’s EPL tie against Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, November 23 at 15:00 GMT, Iraola stated that Semenyo and Bournemouth defender Milos Kerkez needed the rest.
“With Antoine, it’s very similar to Milos’ case, they are players that are playing a lot of minutes. They are still young and playing with the club and the national team. [The past few weeks] was the only time they had to receive treatment, stop playing for at least some days and try to solve [the issue].”
“They needed to stop, receive the treatment and try to improve their overall condition physically to continue with the demands that are very high because we are using them a lot.”
