AFRICAN Player of the Year, Yaya Toure has revealed a burning desire in the Cote d'Ivoire camp to finally achieve Africa Cup of Nations glory.

The Elephants have breezed through their group by beating Sudan 1-0, Burkina Faso 2-0 and Angola 2-0 to reach the quarter-finals, where they will face co-hosts Equatorial Guinea tomorrow.

Again labelled favourites for the tournament, the Manchester City midfielder is all too aware of the pressure that comes with that tag – and says it will mark a failure in his illustrious career if his side don't go all the way this year.

"If there's any country that should be careful of favourites it should be us," he told KICKOFF. "For the past four tournaments we have been called favourites and we have not won it.

Toure, who played in his country's first two matches but was rested for their third group game against Angola having already qualified, is desperate to land a Nations Cup winner's medal to fill a gaping void on his mantelpiece at home.

"My biggest fear is that my generation will pass without winning anything. That will be indescribable, as we say in French. If my country does not get anything before I retire, it will be my biggest failing."

Comments (0)

Show/hide comments

Show/hide comment form

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment