Yaya Toure: The African football interview
Yaya Toure: The African football interview
Posted: 2012-02-10 16:22
Ivory Coast are up against Zambia in the Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday. Yaya Toure takes up behind the scenes in the national team camp.
What's the spirit like when all the players get together from different countries and are back playing for the Ivory Coast?
It's unbelievable, because a long time ago many of us played together. Gervinho, me, Salomon Kalou, Emmanuel Eboue; a lot of players played together in the same academy. When we come back together for the national team, it's always amazing, always unbelievable, we always enjoy it. We always sit around the table and talk about the old days, when we were young.
Who's the joker, who does everyone take the mickey out of and what's your role in the team off the pitch?
We've got a lot of fantastic guys. We love Eboue, because he's always fun. But all the guys are good guys, fun guys. We have some experienced people in the team, but if you look at Gervinho, Tiote, they are all young. They are all good guys. It's coming, but they need help. Drogba, Kolo, me, Zokora: we've been in the national team a long time. I think, for me, this is my eighth year. For my brother it's 10 or 12 years. For Drogba it's the same. We've been there for a long time. And when the young lads come, we try to help them.
Are there any particular games you play to help you relax during matches?
Table tennis, we play that and we play PlayStation together, any game like that. Or we play cards, watch TV and watch football games. Anything to make us relax.
Who's the table tennis king?
We've got a lot. Drogba is a fantastic player. Eboue plays well too and my brother.
Any songs you sing on the team bus. Who leads those songs?
Eboue's got a lot of songs. He sings very well. He's a fantastic guy. He's always smiling – a very good guy for us.
Have you seen the new Ivory Coast shirt, designed by the artist Ernest Dükü?
Yes, it's fantastic, Ernest is unbelievable. I love it.
What do the elephants, as an icon, represent, to yourself and Ivorians?
Elephants are very important to my country. This logo, elephants, means we are strong together and work hard to go through. Elephants are massive animals, very strong and powerful. When we go to competitions, we have to do something, we have to do everything to go through, and work hard, and be strong like an elephant. And for my country, elephant is such an important symbol ... This logo represents everything in my country.
Follow Yaya Touré's full African football story at puma.com/football
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: 2012-02-10 19:34
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