Yaya Toure Quotations

I just had a normal African childhood; we played football a lot, but it was always in the street and always without shoes. Boots were very expensive, and when there are seven in your family, and you say you want to buy a pair, your father wants to kill you.

When you spend a lot of money on one player, you want him to prove himself, but the way football works, one day you can be good, the next you can be bad, and the next after that, you can be very bad. I have come to Manchester City to work very hard and to help my friends make Manchester City great.

To be honest, proper recognition has only come from the fans. I don't want to be hard, and I don't want to be negative, but I want to be honest.

English football is so physical and fast that when you see a space, you have to go into it with all your speed.

When you get the respect of the fans, it's very hard not to be happy.

When we play at the World Cup, any African will back any African team. Because we want to hear the different approach to African football. We want to hear that Africans can do well, and Africans do well.

Football brings you lots of lovely things, but then you have to realise that it's actually a job.

I am very proud to be African. I want to defend African people, and I want to show to the world that African players can be as good as the Europeans and South Americans.

My family were very poor. I am one of nine siblings: two girls and seven boys. Only my brother and I play in Europe, and then three more work in Europe, and another plays in Tunisia. This family is a footballing family, but our lives have not always been good.

I will never forget how I have been treated here by the fans, the club and the owners, and nothing would give me greater pleasure than to finish my career as a Manchester City player.

You must respect people, and you must respect money. My father said to me: 'When you respect money, money will respect you.'

I am a midfielder who is mainly involved in the defensive phases, even if I also like to help build moves - I would say that my foremost quality is my generosity.

I represent my country, but I also represent the continent of Africa when I play in Europe. That's why it's important to try to achieve something big.

The mentality with African and European people is different. In Africa, when you come from a difficult life, when it's not so easy to eat, not so easy to survive, you respect money when you start to earn it, and you respect people more. When you respect people, they will respect you, and your life is better for that.

The fans sing my name around the world. When I meet fans, they ask, 'How are you? All good with your family?'

I have committed to contribute in raising general public awareness, as well as inspiring broad, positive, committed action against illegal trade. It is an on-going and tough fight, but I believe that if we all join our hands, we can conquer!

Saving the world happens one person at a time. Be at the front of the queue.

Each one of us has to work hard to achieve our collective dream for a healthier planet.

The environment is everything that makes up our surroundings and affects our ability to live on the earth - the air we breathe, the water that covers most of the earth's surface, the plants and animals around us, the overall condition of our planet, and much more.

Protecting the environment is really important to everyone's welfare - that of our children, as well as that of the future generations.

People need to make a stand and be clear that trading in ivory is immoral and unacceptable.

My biggest concern and main engagement with UNEP is focused on endangered species and illegal wildlife trade - mostly elephants, rhinos, etc.

Currently poaching threatens the very existence of the African Elephant, and my worry is that if we do not act NOW, we could be looking at a future in which this iconic species is wiped out.

The illegal wildlife trade threatens not only the survival of entire species, such as elephants and rhinos, but also the livelihoods and, often, the very lives of millions of people across Africa who depend on tourism for a living.

On the pitch and for life generally, I keep my center by remembering that I am part of a team and if I don't do my part, I let down not just my team but everyone who follows it.

We can all be weak, but we all have to make a conscious decision to be strong.

Sometimes people fail to see that individual decisions have universal consequences.

Off pitch, I keep things simple. I enjoy spending time with my family. I never forget my roots and regularly give back to children in West Africa. I support several youth associations, and I am also involved in the protection of the forest in my country [Ivory Coast]. When away from home, I mostly miss people and enjoying a good laugh with my peers.

Iniesta - he is the Zinedine Zidane of the team, because he can do whatever you want him to with the ball.

Cristiano Ronaldo has done massive things in both the Premier League and in the Champions League, but Messi is the best though and I am convinced that next year he will win the Ballon d'Or.