I DESERVE MORE RECOGNITION - Yaya Toure Manchester City and Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure thinks he is not regarded as one of the best players in the world because he is from Africa. Toure, 30, has 22 goals this season, helping City to win the League Cup and challenge for the Premier League title. The midfielder has won league titles in four countries - Ivory Coast, Greece, Spain and England - and was part of the Barcelona team that won the Champions League in 2009. He also feels fellow countryman Didier Drogba and Cameroons Samuel Etoo are undervalued because they are African. Toure feels the media should do more to promote African players. If we play well and we dont have the recognition from the media, we are not going to be where we want to be, he said. He says Iniesta and Xavi are often praised for their attacking skills, but rarely singled out for criticism when they fail to defend properly. In contrast, Toure claims he is regularly picked on by the media when he makes a defensive mistake. The Ivorian is also unhappy that Lionel Messi, widely regarded as one of the best players in the world along with Cristiano Ronaldo, is recognised around the world but players like himself are not. He said: If you go to any part of Africa now, people will say, yes, we know him [Messi], but when you come to Europe and say Yaya Toure people will say, who is that? Some will say they know my name but not know my face. But they will know Messis face. Toure, who played in Belgium, Ukraine, Greece, France and Spain before moving to England, says he will be disappointed if he is not named player of the year by the Professional Footballers Association. He is one of six players on the shortlist, alongside Chelseas Eden Hazard, Southamptons Adam Lallana and the Liverpool trio of Luis Suarez, Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge. IS YAYA COMMUNICATING?
Posted on: Sat, 19 Apr 2014 14:20:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015