Known for his versatility and power on the field, professional footballer Yaya Touré has made a pretty big name for himself in recent years. The African Footballer of the Year three years in a row (2011, 2012, and 2013), the Manchester City player is popular among European football fans and Ivorians back home.
He is a practicing Muslim
Frequently named Man of the Match during his time in the Premier League,
Touré has turned down the English tradition of champagne after league
games in accordance with his religious beliefs.
He almost joined Arsenal in 2003While
playing for the Belgian team, Beveren, Touré trialed with Arsenal in
2003. While the manager was interested in signing him, he had
difficulties getting a work permit to play in England. Rather than
waiting, Touré took a contract with the Ukrainian team Metalurh Donetsk
instead, where he played for more than a year.
Both of his brothers are professional footballersMost
are familiar with older brother Kolo Touré, Yaya’s teammate both on the
Côte d’Ivoire national team and Manchester City, before Kolo was
transferred to Liverpool in 2013. Few may be able to name Yaya’s younger
brother, Ibrahim Touré, however, who plays for Al-Safa Sporting Club in
Lebanon.
He’s been known to give PUMA equipment to children in West Africa
A spokesman for the athletic company Puma, Yaya has never forgotten his roots and frequently donates gear to children in
need back in Côte d’Ivoire and other countries in West Africa, among his other charitable endeavors.
He had a clash with AS Monaco manager, László BölöniWhen
Yaya moved to play for the French Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in 2006, he
initially had issues with the manager, László Bölöni. Bölöni wouldn’t
put Touré at the midfield position where he had played the majority of
his career and proven himself. He was sacked in the middle of the season
as Monaco was performing poorly.
He is one of the few midfielders to win African Footballer of the YearBefore
Yaya’s first African Footballer of the Year award in 2011, the previous
12 years’ awards had gone to African forwards. As forwards receive more
scoring opportunities, they occupy higher-profile positions on the
field and receive recognition more often.
He has a history of being targeted by racist mobs.Yaya
has commented several times on his love of playing football in England,
where racist mobs targeting black players is a rare occurrence. The
worst incidents occurred while he was playing in Portugal and Moscow.
Touré is known for staying behind after training each dayA
strong believer that practice makes perfect, Yaya stays behind after
practice in order to continue to improve his free-kick technique in
particular.
He is a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. Environment ProgramAfter
joining a campaign against elephant poaching in October, Yaya was named
a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. and helps to raise awareness about
the problem, along with other environmental issues.
Sources:
ESPNFC.com, Wikipedia.org, Biography.com,
Puma.com
