City’s star siblings will be part of the Ivory Coast side that are favourites to lift the trophy when they face Zambia in the Gabonese capital of Libreville on Sunday evening. Manager Roberto Mancini, team mates and staff at the Carrington training ground have been wishing Kolo and Yaya well; see what they have had to say on this CityTV clip.
The Elephants have yet to concede a goal in the five games leading up to the final, and along the way Yaya has scored once with a blockbuster of a free kick against Equatorial Guinea.
Passage to the final was sealed with a 1-0 win over Mali courtesy of a Gervinho goal on Wednesday, but their opponents had surprised many when overcoming hotly-tipped Ghana just a few hours earlier.
Zambia are likely to have the support of many neutrals due to their underdog status, and it is certain to be an emotional occasion with memories turning to the 1993 plane crash off the coast of Gabon that killed most of Zambia’s best players of the time.
“(Zambia) are a really good team and it’s going to be a very tough game,” Kolo has told the BBC. “It means a lot to our country. The people there have been suffering so much.
“The only thing that brings them together is the national team and we try to do as well as we can.
We are used to that pressure. We’ve learnt from all the mistakes we’ve made in the past, this has been helping us.
...Kolo Toure.
“On Sunday we need to prove we have the experience and that all the bad times we’ve had make us improve. That’s the most important thing.”
Roberto Mancini and Blues fans everywhere will be keeping their fingers crossed that Kolo and Yaya can emerge victorious, and that they can return to City unscathed for the demanding final stretch of the domestic season.
ITV4 and Eurosport will broadcast the game in the UK – check your local listings elsewhere.
Everybody at City wishes Kolo and Yaya the very best of luck!
