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Yaya Toure has had a distinguished career over a 19-year span that ended in China two years ago. He once wore jerseys from Monaco and Barcelona, and at the height of his career, Manchester City where reached the peak of his footballing journey.
He spent eight successful years with the Etihad side and won more trophies than he could have hoped. After almost a decade at Manchester City, he played shortly for Olympiacos, and finally for Qingdao before calling it quits. Last summer he joined Tottenham Hotspur as a coach in their academy and is hoping to delve into management soon enough, just like his brother Kolo did recently at Wigan.
Toure also had a beautiful career with the Ivory Coast national team accumulating 101 caps, and scoring 19 goals in an eleven-year international career. He had plenty of experience playing against Senegal, a team that will be England’s first opponent in the knockout stage of the World Cup.
Senegal is playing without their best player Sadio Mane, however, the team still managed to pass the group stage and move into the last 16 for the first time in 20 years. It was in 2002 when the World Cup was held in Japan and South Korea that Senegal last time played in the playoff stage of the tournament reaching the quarterfinals.
“I believe that Senegal is at a good place right now. Even without Mane, they are very dangerous. They are a team with a great experience on the big stage when it comes to club representation, there are few players with Premier League experience, and they need to be respected,” said Toure.
The rise of African football
In the 2018 World Cup all five African nations failed to move out of the group stage of the tournament, but in Qatar not only did Senegal manage to get into the last 16, but Morocco also won the group that featured Croatia, Belgium, and Canada. That was the first time since 1998 that an African team won the World Cup group, back then it was Nigeria.
“African football is growing every year. With Senegal, they are the African champions, a great team that has established the feel of African football in general,” claimed Toure.
Three African nations didn’t advance to the next stage of the tournament, but despite that fact, they produced good football and won games. Tunisia was third in a group behind France and Australia beating Denmark in the process. Cameroon was third in a group that featured Brazil, Switzerland, and Serbia. They beat Brazil in their final match.
Finally, Ghana missed the last 16 phases of the tournament by a single point losing to Uruguay in their final match.
As for Yaya Toure, he is ready to establish himself as a manager, hoping to get his first job soon.
“Throughout my playing career, I loved being challenged. I’m looking forward to moving into management, and believe that I have what it takes to be a success. I love teaching younger players about the game, making them believe in themselves, and understand football.”
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