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"Ivory Coast will always let you down, Nigeria will go furthest"- Emmanuel Adebayor offers insight into African teams ahead of Brazil 2014

Togolese international, Emmanuel Adebayor has offered an insight into some of the African teams who will represent their countries at the 2014 World Cup. Speaking to Daily Express, the former Manchester City player started with Ivory Coast which boasts of fantastic players like Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure, but his analysis of the team was a bit harsh.
“I never trust them. They are the country that will always let you down. I know all of them from the bench to the manager. Sabri Lamouchi their coach is my very good friend. How come for the last four or five years have they not won the African Cup of Nations? They have got the best striker in Europe in Didier Drogba. They have got the best midfielder today, Yaya Toure. You’ve got one of the best strikers in the league today, the one that plays at Swansea, Wilfried Bony. You have all of those players.
“But the thing is, are they going to be collective enough? I don’t know. I am not an Ivorian. They will be talking, laughing and enjoying themselves but when the time comes, they will forget about their job. There’s no togetherness. Everyone wants to be the hero. Everybody wants to be the one to finish on a high so the folks remember them for what I have done, not for what we have done as a generation, nor for what we have done as team. Everyone wants to be like a hero and that is what is killing Ivory Coast.”

The 30 year-old however spoke highly of the Nigeria squad: “Out of these teams, my choice for which of the African teams will go the furthest would be Nigeria because of their concentration. Because of Stephen Keshi the coach, he knows a lot about football and everything. He has been there as well as a player for Nigeria. And they have got Victor Moses, who is a great friend of mine, and I like the way he plays. Jon Obi Mikel played a lot for Chelsea this year and showed how good he is. Their goalkeeper is very good. Nigeria have all the ingredients to be good in the World Cup.”
The Tottenham forward has also backed the Ghanaian team to do well in the tournament. “Ghana have a good team. I hope they do well but they have done everything that is possible. Asamoah Gyan is a great player and great friend of mine but he is now playing in Dubai. He is still their main man. If he is not in form or if he does not match the level of the World Cup, then Ghana will struggle.
Indeed they will. In fact, during my time as a player, I got to know many of those who will be taking part in the World Cup for their respective African nations. Experienced players like Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari will need to be at their best to help Ghana.” He concluded.
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Yaya Toure makes a case for undervalued African players

Three-time African player of the year, Yaya Toure during an interview on Football Focus segment on BBC World News made a case for undervalued footballers in Africa. Toure who has netted a total of 22 goals this season for his club, Manchester City says African footballers deserve to be celebrated like their European counterparts. The 30 year-old UN ambassador believes the media has a major role to play in the recognition/celebration of African players.

“To be honest, proper recognition has only come from the fans, I don’t want to be hard and I don’t want to be negative, but I want to be honest. If we play well and we don’t have the recognition from the media, we are not going to be where we want to be. If you go to any part of Africa now, people will say, ‘yes, we know 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 Messi’s face.” He stated

Citing the likes of Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o who are un-appreciated despite their significant contributions at their various clubs. The Ivorian believes they also deserve to win the Ballon d’Or award, adding that there has only been one African winner of the award, which is former AC Milan and Liberia striker George Weah who won in 1995.

“Those players are more than legends for me and Africa. I am very proud to be African, I want to defend African people and I want to show to the world that African players can be as good as the Europeans and South Americans.”

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Entertainment, Sports

Samuel Eto'o opens up on his relationship with former boss. "Pep Guardiola is a coward, he never had the courage to say things in front of me."

Chelsea striker and former Barcelona player, Samuel Eto’o has opened up on his relationship with his former boss, Pep Guardiola while at the spanish club. The Cameroonian revealed that during the 2008/2009 season, the incumbent Bayern Munich coach spoke to him on few occasions and used other players to communicate more.

“I first of all reminded Guardiola that he’d never been a great player. He was a good player, that’s true. I told him. As a coach, he had proven nothing. He came in and didn’t even know the story of the dressing room. Guardiola has never had the courage to say things in front of me. He passed by the players. Xavi told me they wanted me to stay but I had to talk to Pep. I say “never, if you do not respect me, I do not respect you. There were three occasions when he spoke to me that season.

One was when he wanted me to speak to Yaya Toure, who didn’t want to talk to him either. Another was when he told me how to move like a striker. I told him: “You’re not normal!” The true story is that Pep didn’t respect the things in football.

He shook hands with me when I was at Inter and I played against Barca, but this was just for the cameras and TV. Behind the scenes before the match, he did not greet me.’

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Entertainment

Yaya Toure on Jose Mourinho. "He talks more than before"

I really don’t know the correlation between his team’s recent defeat at the UEFA Champions League and Jose Mourinho’s input. Manchester City midfielder, who insisted the game would have favoured them if a “good referee had officiated” has slammed Chelsea boss, Jose Mourinho for always talking about everyone. (coaches, players and teams I guess)
According to Marca, the three time CAF award-winner said, “I think he talks more than before, perhaps because the English press likes it. He is a coach and he must give respect a little bit. He is always talking about everyone and that is not the correct way. That is why Barcelona always beat Madrid when Mourinho was here in Spain.”
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SUPER HAT-TRICK! YAYA TOURE WINS 2013 CAF AFRICAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD.

Manchester City midfielder, Yaya Toure has won his third Confederation African Football (CAF) title in a row. The Ivorian who has been on a top-notch form recently won BBC African Footballer of the Year award, held in December 2013.

The 30 year-old UN ambassador was declared outright winner in an Awards Gala anchored by ex-soccer star, Sunday Oliseh & South African TV journalist Carol Shabalala and held today January 9, 2014 at the Eko Convention Centre, Lagos. He edged out his Ivorian colleague, Didier Drogba and Nigeria’s John Mikel Obi to win the 2013 edition of the award.

Yaya is also the only African to be

included on the 23-man shortlist for Fifa’s World Player of the Year.

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Entertainment

WHO WINS CAF'S BEST AFRICAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD?

The 5-man CAF finalists list has been whittled down. We now have 3 distinguished footballers vying for the 2013 Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards, best African player of the year category. They include Nigeria/Chelsea midfielder, Mikel Obi; Ivorian pair, Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure.
Winners will be announced during a colour gala in Lagos on January 9.
CATEGORIES
1) BEST AFRICAN PLAYER
– Mikel Obi
– Yaya Toure
– Didier Drogba
2) NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR
– Burkina Faso
– Ethiopia
– Nigeria
(3) BEST COACH OF THE YEAR
– Manu Garba (Nigeria)
– Paul Put (Burkina Faso)
– Stephen Keshi (Nigeria)
(4) CLUB OF THE YEAR
Al Ahly
CS Sfaxien
Orlando Pirates
(5) HOPE OF THE YEAR
– Ebenezer Assifuah (Ghana)
– Saleh Gomaa (Egypt)
– Kelechi Iheanacho (Nigeria)
(6) REFEREE OF THE YEAR
– Alioum Nil (Cameroon)
– Papa Gassama (Gambia)
– Haimoudi Djamel (Algeria)
(7) LEGENDS OF THE CAF
– Mehdi Faria (Morocco)
– Bruno Metsu (France / Senegal)
CAF Platinum Award
Supporters of Nigeria
Young National Team of the Year
Nigeria U17
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Entertainment

"IT'S A FANTASTIC ACHIEVEMENT" YAYA TOURE WINS 2013 BBC AFRICAN FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR AWARD.

Toure receives 2013 BBC African Footballer of the Year Award
 
Manchester City/Ivory Coast midfielder, Yaya Toure has piped out Nigeria’s Victor Moses and Mikel Obi, Pitroipa, Gervinho and Solomon Kalou to win the prestigious BBC African Footballer of the Year award. The elated UN ambassador who has been nominated five consecutive years told BBC Sport it’s a fantastic achievement.
“I don’t think there has ever been as many quality African players in top-level international football as there are now:
Aubameyang, Pitroipa, Mikel, Moses, Solomon Kalou, Gervinho… we have fantastic players. I also think African football is improving and that means a lot to us. And as an African, I’m very happy.” He added.
The former Barcelona star also appreciated his teeming fans for their unflinching support. “Thank you to all the fans around the world who continue to support me. It shows how much fans love you and appreciate your job as well. It’s something special because it’s not the vote of the manager or the club or the captain of the national
team, it’s just the fans. When you have a lot of fans behind you, it’s always
amazing. And I’m very happy as it is the fans who have given it to me – so I’m very appreciative.”
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Entertainment

SEE THE 10 HIGHEST PAID PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYERS

22 year-old Eden harzard tops the list, his paypacket is put at £185k per week. My surprise player on the top ten scale is Mesut Ozil who sits on the 5th spot. The list consists of one Belgian, three English players, one Dutch, one Ivorian, one German, two Spaniards and one French.

(1) Eden Hazard – Chelsea (£185k)

(2) Robin Van Persie – Manchester United (£180k)

(3) Wayne Rooney – Manchester United (£180k)

(4) Yaya Toure – Manchester City (£180k)

(5) Mesut Ozil – Arsenal (£180k)

(6) Fernando Torres – Chelsea (£175k)

(7) John Terry – Chelsea (£175k)

(8) David Silva – Manchester City (£160k)

(9) Samir Nasri -Manchester City (£140k)

(10) Frank Lampard – Chelsea (£140k)

Source: fanatix.com

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YAYA TOURE CROWNED AFRICAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2011

28 year-old Manchester city midfielder, Yaya Toure has emerged CAF's African player of the year 2011 beating Ghana's Andre Ayew and Mali's Seydou Keita.
He was chosen based on votes of head coaches or technical directors of the national association based on the performance of the nominees from January to November.

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Entertainment

CAF SHORTLISTS THREE PLAYERS FOR THE AFRICAN PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Yaya Toure
Andre Ayew
Seydou Keita

The TheConfederation of African Football (CAF) has shortlisted the final three players contesting for the 2011 African Player of the Year award
The players are:
Yaya Toure (Manchester City&Ivory Coast) Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseile& Ghana)
Seydou Keita (Barcelona&Mali)
The winner will be announced at the CAF Awards Gala, which on Thursday, December 22 in Accra. The shortlist for the 2011 African Player of the Year was decided by votes of head coaches or technical directors of the national associations affiliated to CAF based on the performance of the nominees from January to November, 2011.

Source: Goal.com

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