Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has tipped his national team to win the Africa Cup of Nations in 2015 for the first time in twenty three years.
The Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire claimed to possess one of the most experienced squads in Equatorial Guinea despite Didier Drogba’s international retirement in 2014, with handful team of experienced European club players likes of Kolo Toure, Wilfried Bony and Gervinho who are expected to play prominent roles in the tournament.
Yaya Toure is confident they will improve on their performance which saw them out of the tournament in 2013 at the quarter-final stage in the handsof Nigeria who eventually won the Cup in South Africa.
Speaking with Goal.com on Monday, January 19, 2015, he stated”We have been chasing this trophy for a few years now, and we’ve not got it,this year it’s time again to try to do it and I hope that at long last we have it in us.
Yaya Toure has appeared in the Nations Cup for his country four times since 2006 and the country has played twice at the finals losing to Egypt and Zambia on penalties.
“We can do it. I am fighting for it,” he assured.
Cote d’Ivoire will play six games in three weeks if they make the last four semi-final teams and eventually play in the final or third place, and Toure identifies the quality of the pitches in Equatorial Guinea as a big challenge for his team.
“It’s not easy; most of the players play in Europe on good pitches. In Africa sometimes it’s totally different,” he said.
