Barcelona's Touré de force

Barcelona's Touré de force

Thursday 2 April 2009

Yaya Touré promised he and his FC Barcelona team-mates will "do everything we can" to get past FC Bayern München and qualify for the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Complicated route

In his second season at Camp Nou, the 25-year-old defensive midfielder has played an important role in helping the Liga leaders maintain their interest in three competitions this season. And with a two-legged quarter-final against Bayern to come, the Ivory Coast international knows the importance of remaining fully focused right until the end. "We're into the last eight [of the Champions League] and all the teams left are really big ones who've had great campaigns. I don't think it'll be easy," he said. "It's going to be all the more difficult because we realise that if we beat Bayern we'll face either Chelsea or Liverpool in the semis. To get through to the next round we'll have to be very alert and really in form."
Well travelled

Touré has gained a significant amount of experience playing in Europe since leaving the football academy at ASEC Mimosas in Abidjan. Moulding his skills at Belgian side KSK Beveren from 2001 before spending subsequent seasons at FC Metalurh Donetsk, Olympiacos CFP and then AS Monaco FC, the father of three has since gone on to become the first Ivorian to play for Barcelona. "I started playing football when I was very little and I was later picked to play for a youth team from my area," Touré explained. "After that it was excellent to go first to Belgium, and although it was more difficult, then to the Ukraine. I moved on to Greece before heading for France and now I'm here. [The experience gained] was very helpful, it set me up well." Playing down his reputation as the new Patrick Vieira –"Vieira is clearly better; I've got a bit of a way to get to his level" – Touré also had a trial with Arsenal FC where his older brother Kolo currently plays.
Crowd pleasers

Standing at 1.91m and weighing 90kg, Touré represents a contrasting physical presence to midfield schemers Xavi Hernández, Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi who can be seen darting in all directions when their giant team-mate wins possession. "He gives us strength at the back so we can take advantage of the speed we have going forward," said Barcelona technical secretary Txiki Begiristain. "He's strong, recovers possession, is a good header of the ball and displays quality when it's time to release a pass."
Dirty work

In fact, doing the dirty work that allows his sprightly colleagues to be more creative further upfield is just fine by Barça's No24, as long as the fans are entertained. "Each time we step out on to the pitch we try to please ourselves and the supporters," he said. "At the end of the day what's important is winning, but to us it's the way we play as well as victory. Here, people like a nice style of play. We're winning lots of games and I hope that's going to continue right to the end." Barça host Bayern in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday with the return game in Munich six days later.
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