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Yaya Toure

Yaya Toure

Manchester City badge.

Yaya's back with a bang!

Yaya Toure made a surprise return to the Manchester City team last weekend and didn't disappoint his fans. The City midfielder scored twice to give City a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace. Toure combined well with Nolito to open the scoring in the 39th minute, but Palace played better in the second half and Conor Wickham scored a deserved equaliser. The story of this match was perhaps written before kick-off when the team sheets were announced and it was Toure who had the final word. With just a few minutes left to play, Toure grabbed the winner when he scored from close-range following a corner from Kevin De Bruyne. It was the perfect return for Toure; City fans had chanted his name throughout the match and his teammates clapped him off the pitch at the final whistle.

Yaya scored twice on his Premier League return.

It's good to be back...#ComeOnCity @YayaToure on Twitter after the match.

Friends again

Pep Guardiola congratulates Yaya after the match.

This was Yaya Toure's first Premier League match of the season. The only match that Toure had played this season was the second leg of a Champions League qualifier against Steaua Bucharest, City had already won the first leg 5-0 so the match was not very important. Yaya Toure had fallen out with the manager Pep Guardiola because of some problems with Toure's agent. Guardiola decided that Toure wouldn't be part of the City squad until he received an apology from Toure's agent. Toure apologised at the beginning of November, and the pair have now made up and the midfielder is, once again, an important part of Pep Guardiola's squad.  

The situation was very difficult but thank you to the manager for letting me play today.  Yaya Toure, speaking after the match against Crystal Palace.

What do we know about Yaya Toure?

Yaya Toure captained Ivory Coast to glory in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Yaya Toure was born in Bouaké in the Ivory Coast, in May 1983. When he was 13 years old he moved to Abidjan (the biggest city in Ivory Coast) to play for ASEC Mimosas and their famous academy. This academy has produced many famous Ivorian players including his brother Kolo (ex-Liverpool, Arsenal and City), Gervinho (Roma and ex-Arsenal) and Solomon Kalou (Lille and ex-Chelsea). There are also a number of Ivorians currently playing in the Premier League:

The most successful Ivorian to play in the Premier League is Didier Drogba. The striker won 12 major trophies with Chelsea, including the Champions League and four Premier League titles, and scored 164 goals for the club.

Like many of his Ivorian colleagues, Toure left the Ivory Coast to play in Europe. So far in his career Toure has played for six different clubs, in six different countries. They are:

Beveren Belgium Metalurh Donetsk Ukraine
Olimpiacos Greece AS Monaco France
FC Barcelona Spain Manchester City England

What has Yaya won?

Yaya has had some great times at City.

During his travels, Toure has won league titles in four different countries, (Ivory Coast, Greece, Spain and England). He also won the Champions League with Barcelona in 2009 where he played as a centre-back in the 2-0 victory against Manchester United. Because the competition at Barcelona was very strong he moved to Manchester City in the summer of 2010.

Toure played 102 times for Ivory Coast and scored 19 international goals. He made his debut against Egypt, in June 2004. Toure played for 'The Elephants' in six Africa Cup of Nations tournaments and the highlight was in 2015 when Toure captained his country to victory. In September 2016, Toure retired from international football.

In addition to honours with his club and with his country, Toure has won many individual honours. These include being named African Footballer of the Year four times and named in the Premier League team of the season twice.

You can follow Yaya Toure on twitter. He posts using the name @YayaToure

How much Football English did you learn?

There was a lot of football vocabulary in this article. Try the quiz below and test your understanding of football vocabulary. You can find all the answers in bold in the text above.

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What do you think?

Yaya Toure hasn't played for six months. Do you think he will play an important part in the rest of City's season? Do you think he should have been in the team? 

Both Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba are Premier League legends. Who do you think was/is better? Is it possible to compare the two players?

Take another look at the football English in the article (the words in bold). Were any of these words new for you? Can you try to use some of them in the comments section below?

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Comments

hsn's picture
hsn
30/09/2022
TR
5525
points

Here, instead of "Agent" we say "Manager" and instead of "Manager" as used in Premier League we say "Technical Director" (=Coach)


hsn's picture
hsn
30/09/2022 16:45
Turkey
Tottenham Hotspur
5525

Here, instead of "Agent" we say "Manager" and instead of "Manager" as used in Premier League we say "Technical Director" (=Coach)

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
27/06/2020
TR
6510
points

Both are legends and they are the best in their positions but it's impossible to compare them because they have different duties on the pitch but I'm sure if they played together , they would be lethal.


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
27/06/2020 21:56
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

Both are legends and they are the best in their positions but it's impossible to compare them because they have different duties on the pitch but I'm sure if they played together , they would be lethal.

mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
27/06/2020
TR
6510
points

I think he had some problems with his manager Pep that's why he hadn't played for a long time.


mobeckham's picture
mobeckham
27/06/2020 21:53
Turkey
Manchester United
6510

I think he had some problems with his manager Pep that's why he hadn't played for a long time.

Talapker's picture
Talapker
28/01/2017
KZ
205
points

I think Yaya would be play better if he left his agent


Talapker's picture
Talapker
28/01/2017 11:28
Kazakhstan
Manchester City
205

I think Yaya would be play better if he left his agent

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/01/2017
PS
3705
points

I think it is difficult to compare between both players because each one has a different position,but Drogba is more successful than Toure.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/01/2017 12:55
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

I think it is difficult to compare between both players because each one has a different position,but Drogba is more successful than Toure.

assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/01/2017
PS
3705
points

I think if he stays in the starting 11 consecutively he can affect on the team and lead them to higher positions,he got excellent skills.


assemjuve's picture
assemjuve
21/01/2017 12:53
Palestinian Territory
Liverpool
3705

I think if he stays in the starting 11 consecutively he can affect on the team and lead them to higher positions,he got excellent skills.

Aimanelsheikh's picture
Aimanelsheikh
11/12/2016
SD
9
points

I think Yaya toure should be in the team . He will play important part in the rest of city's season .
It's not possible to compare between Yaya toure and Didier Drogba.


Aimanelsheikh's picture
Aimanelsheikh
11/12/2016 19:25
Sudan
Chelsea
9

I think Yaya toure should be in the team . He will play important part in the rest of city's season .
It's not possible to compare between Yaya toure and Didier Drogba.

AKinfenwa's picture
AKinfenwa
28/11/2016
RU
107
points

+1 for Elephants in EPL. Wilfried Zaha switches to Ivory Coast from England


AKinfenwa's picture
AKinfenwa
28/11/2016 21:50
Russia
AFC Bournemouth
107

+1 for Elephants in EPL. Wilfried Zaha switches to Ivory Coast from England

Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
26/11/2016
UA
6278
points

Yaya will definitely play an important part in the rest of City's season. As for the reasons of his not having been in the team before , Guardiola should have a say.


Alex_from_Ukraine's picture
Alex_from_Ukraine
26/11/2016 18:03
Ukraine
Liverpool
6278

Yaya will definitely play an important part in the rest of City's season. As for the reasons of his not having been in the team before , Guardiola should have a say.

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
25/11/2016
ME
3557
points

Every player who gives his best in order to achieve victory should be clapped off the pitch after the final whistle or when substituted. A new phrase I learned today!


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
25/11/2016 16:32
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

Every player who gives his best in order to achieve victory should be clapped off the pitch after the final whistle or when substituted. A new phrase I learned today!

aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
25/11/2016
ME
3557
points

Yaya is a classy player. Even though he was injuried for some time, he scored a goal as soon as he got his opportunity to play. He should be in a team. There's a lot more to see from him. It is hard to compare these two. Drogba was unique player, better player by my choice.


aragorn1986's picture
aragorn1986
25/11/2016 16:25
Montenegro
Arsenal
3557

Yaya is a classy player. Even though he was injuried for some time, he scored a goal as soon as he got his opportunity to play. He should be in a team. There's a lot more to see from him. It is hard to compare these two. Drogba was unique player, better player by my choice.

kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
25/11/2016
GH
4768
points

I think both Yaya and Drogba are excellent players in their own ways; Yaya in midfield and Drogba Upfront and comparing them would be quite difficult due to the difference in positions


kwesimanifest's picture
kwesimanifest
25/11/2016 10:59
Ghana
Manchester United
4768

I think both Yaya and Drogba are excellent players in their own ways; Yaya in midfield and Drogba Upfront and comparing them would be quite difficult due to the difference in positions

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Top Scorers
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1mobeckham6510
2Alex_from_Ukraine6278
3hsn5525
4wsanta5086
5kwesimanifest4768
6Liubomyr4408
7elghoul3988
8assemjuve3705
9aragorn19863557
10Gergő Nagy3396
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3Spain28277
4Serbia27289
5Brazil23896
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8Turkey19810
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1Manchester United141846
2Liverpool110282
3Chelsea88559
4Arsenal85717
5Manchester City56951
6Tottenham Hotspur19169
7Newcastle United10457
8West Ham United7454
9AFC Bournemouth4454
10Crystal Palace4240

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Average: 3 (1 vote)

Goals

In this article, you will:

Practise reading.

Learn more about Manchester City's star midfielder, Yaya Toure, and learn some new vocabulary.