Qatar Football AssociationNews
29.05.2014 0:37 in :

DOHA: Yaya Toure thought he had seen it all in football.

Less than two weeks after winning the English Premier League, however, the Manchester City superstar was amazed by the stadiums and other infrastructure being developed by the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar.

Toure, who will rejoin the Ivory Coast national team in Dallas, Texas on Thursday for the team’s 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil preparations, said: “If I’m honest, I had questions before I came to Qatar, especially about the weather. It is very hot and you ask yourself how it will be possible for players to play in this heat?

“Now that I have seen the plans and watched this amazing presentation, I have the answers. It is amazing.

“I didn’t understand the plans Qatar has. I didn’t know about the cooling technology or anything like this. I am so surprised. It has everything.

“I have played in the World Cup before. I am about to play in another one. I know what you need for this sort of tournament to be successful. Qatar looks like it has the plans to succeed.”

Throughout a glittering career, Toure has experienced triumphs in the UEFA Champions League, La Liga and the FA Cup.

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The powerful midfielder has been in Doha for the last few days receiving treatment for a ‘minor injury’ at the highly-respected Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital.

He took the opportunity to meet with SC representatives to hear about our exciting plans for the 2022 tournament. From environmentally-friendly cooled stadiums to the legacy of modular stadiums that will benefit developing countries, Toure could not hide his excitement.

The SC was proud to welcome the world-famous midfielder to the Legacy Pavilion – one of the venues that FIFA inspectors visited in 2010 before Qatar won the right to host the tournament.

Toure, who just two weeks ago celebrated his title triumph win with Manchester City, admits he and his teammates often talk about 2022 whenever it is mentioned in the media.

Now the former FC Barcelona star insists he will have much more to say on the matter.

“I don’t know how many players understand what the plans are,” Toure admitted. “At Manchester City we talk about the World Cup in Qatar, but sometimes only because you hear very negative things.

“For sure I will be telling my teammates about these plans because Qatar is planning to have everything. It’s fantastic.

“In 2022 I will be 40 and maybe that’s too old to play at a World Cup. I’m trying to work out how I can be involved because this is the future. It looks amazing.”

Toure will undoubtedly add to the 82 caps he has already won for his country during this summer’s football extravaganza in Brazil.

He may be too old to play in Qatar by the time 2022 comes around, but the midfielder has promised to make the most of Ivory Coast’s adventure in this year’s tournament when his country takes on Colombia, Greece and Japan in Group C.

He said: “I am looking forward to Brazil. We have a very interesting group so we know it will be difficult. All the teams have different styles so it will be hard to know what to expect.”