Kenya has talented players, says Yaya Toure

BY ERICK OCHIENG’

Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Double African Footballer of the Year, Yaya Toure, says he has an ambition to mentor and be a role model for upcoming Kenyans and other players across the continent.

Toure (pictured) believes the country has massive football talent that needs the right individuals to identify and tap it to realise potential.

While lauding the way Harambee Stars and Southampton midfielder, Victor Wanyama, has made it to the pinnacle of the world football – the English Premier League (EPL) – Toure said: “The fact that Wanyama could tackle all odds against him to reach there (EPL) is a clear indication of how resilient Kenyan players are; they can grow anywhere in the world of football.”

Though he has never followed the Kenyan Premier League (KPL), Toure, who won the African Player of the Year in 2011 and 2012, says Kenyan players are up to the task and can be a force to reckon with in continental football. He is aware that KPL is currently watched all over Africa courtesy of pay television station SuperSport.

While predicting the resurgence of Kenyan players in EPL in the near future, Toure said:

“My country Ivory Coast thrives on football but is no different from Kenya in terms of level of the game. The only thing that can be done to make Kenya a global name in football is to establish better management. When football has the right leadership it will grow by itself.”

Toure, who was unveiled yesterday as the UN Heaquarters in Gigiri, Nairobi, as Unep Goodwill Ambassador, is predicting that continental teams that will have a chance to represent Africa in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil will perform better this time round owing to the high level of qualification standards that were placed by world football governing body Fifa and Africa’s federation CAF.

The 30-year-old midfielder, who surprised many recently by saying if racism is not stopped in football then African players will boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia, says he has no plans to retire from football any time soon.

“I also have no transfer plans for now and that means Etihad (Manchester City) is still and will continue to be my home in the near future.”