Man City midfielder wants to lift The FA Cup for the fans.
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The full interview with Yaya Toure is in the official FA Cup Final matchday programme (see below for further details)
Manchester City’s Semi-Final match winner has sounded an FA Cup battle cry to his trophy-hungry team-mates.
Yaya Toure, who capitalised on a mistake from Michael Carrick to send City into their first FA Cup Final for 30 years, says he is aware of the importance of the competition both to City’s fans and to the English game in general and wants to go down in City folklore.
“It was a great feeling [to win the Semi-Final]!” he admitted. “The fans were amazing and gave us fantastic support. Now, it would be one of my best achievements [to win The FA Cup], really fantastic. I want to be a part of making history.”
“We understand now that it’s the most important trophy in England for us,” he continued. “It’s fantastic that teams from the lower leagues get the chance to beat Premier League clubs. Before coming to this country I used to watch FA Cup matches and didn’t really understand why teams wanted to win so much. In other countries like Spain and France, it is not so important. But from my first FA Cup match I realised how much it matters to our fans.”
If Toure was unsure what winning The FA Cup would mean, the reaction to his winner in the Semi-Final would have been a good indicator. His goal not only secured City’s place in The Final but suggested the gap between City and rivals United is as close as ever. Victory at such a vital stage of the competition and the undertones of the style in which City managed it aren’t lost on Toure.
“It was a really great team performance. To beat Manchester United you have to play together. Games against United, both in the past with Barcelona in the Champions League Final and with Manchester City in The FA Cup Semi-Final have been my most memorable. United are a very important team and to play them and win is fantastic.”
And how does it feel to have scored the winner?
“It’s my favourite goal of the season and one of the most important I’ve ever scored,” he beamed. “It was fantastic to help the club get to its first Final for such a long time.”
Pick up your copy of the programme at Wembley Stadium priced at £10, with £1 per copy donated to official FA Charity Partner Action for Children, or alternatively you can buy it from selected Tesco and WHSmith retail and travel outlets and other supermarkets and independent stores.
There will also be a digital version available to buy online from Saturday morning here.
You can also buy the match programme online* here.
