Toure: I'm sure I'll return to Barcelona

New Manchester City signing Yaya Toure has admitted he was sad to leave Barcelona but said he will return to the Catalan club one day.

City paid Barça around £27.5m for the defensive midfielder, who will reportedly become the highest-paid player in the Premier League. Nevertheless, Toure, who will link up with his brother Kolo at Eastlands, revealed the decision to leave Camp Nou was a difficult one.

"Barça is the team of my whole life. I'm sure I'll go back one day." New Manchester City signing Yaya Toure

"The decision to leave was complicated because Barça is the team of my whole life," he told radio station RAC-1. "It was a sad decision because everybody wants to come to Barça and I have had to leave, but not playing has been difficult and it wouldn't have been normal to just sit on the bench and pick up the money."
"I wanted to bring more joy to the fans, but life is like that. Barça is a great club with the best players in the world, but I have played less in this third season, which for me has been difficult."
Nevertheless, Toure hopes to return to Barcelona one day. "I don't feel that I'm away from Barça and I'm sure I'll go back one day," he said.

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Win, Côte d'Ivoire failed to quaify

There were no miracles for Ivory Coast in Nelspruit as the west Africans were knocked out of the World Cup despite comfortably beating a defensively-frail North Korea.

The Elephants' hopes of progressing to the second round in South Africa always appeared slim as they needed to not only emphatically beat their opponents to make up an enormous goal deficit, but also hope that Portugal lost to Brazil in the other fixture in Group G.
Ivory Coast coach Sven-Goran Eriksson's men scored two early goals through Yaya Toure and Romaric but the eight-goal deluge that was most likely needed did not materialise, even though North Korea were more than obliging in defence - just as they had been during their 7-0 demolition by Portugal.

Salomon Kalou came off the bench to add a third goal but in the end the scoreline did not matter a jot as it was Portugal who progressed in second spot thanks to a goalless draw with group winners Brazil.
North Korea coach Kim Jong-hun had regarded this game as an opportunity for his team to restore some pride, but his players still seemed shell-shocked after conceding six goals in the second half against Portugal on Monday.
The Koreans granted Ivory Coast the freedom to surge forward at will and, in truth, Eriksson's men should have led by more than two goals at the break.
The Elephants started with intent as Toure's beautiful pass set the surging Kader Keita free in the box only for goalkeeper Ri-Myong-Guk's outstretched legs to prevent a goal in the opening minute.
Didier Drogba then had a header ruled out for offside, the Chelsea striker wagged his finger in protest but replays proved referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco was correct.
More chances were wasted - Gervinho being the prime culprit - before Toure finally gave Ivory Coast a deserved lead with a well-placed side-footed effort into the corner from the edge of the box.
A mere six minutes later and the Elephants doubled their advantage as the alert Romaric headed home Drogba's fierce volley, which had kindly rebounded off the crossbar.
The Elephants continued to trample over their opponents after the break but they also seemed determined to squander goalscoring opportunities.
Drogba, Ivory Coast's standard-bearer and all-time leading scorer, was the prime culprit as he headed wide from six yards and then failed to make contact with a perfect cross from Arthur Boka on the left. Gervinho and substitute Kalou were just as culpable.
North Korea defended a little more stoically in the second half and could have halved the deficit when Jong Tae-Se had the best opportunity of the match with Toure's brother Kolo blocking his goalbound effort.
Almost immediately, the Elephants whizzed up the field and the impressive Boka produced another fine cross from the left which Kalou side-footed in from six yards.
Substitute Aruna Dindane had an effort ruled out for offside in the closing stages but by then, as far as Ivory Coast's World Cup hopes were concerned, it was all a little irrelevant.

Korea DPR	0-3	Côte d'Ivoire	FT
	(HT 0-2)	Yaya Toure, 14 Romaric, 20 Kalou, 82
Team
Korea DPR 01 Myong-Guk Ri 02 Cha Jong-Hyok 03 Ri Jun-Il 05 Ri Kwang-Chon 13 Pak Chol-Jin 04 Pak Nam-Chol 08 Ji Yun-Nam 11 Mun In-Guk (12 Choe Kum-Chol Choe, 67) 17 Ahn Yong-Hak 09 Jong Tae-Se 10 Hong Yong-Jo		Côte d'Ivoire 01 Boubacar Copa 03 Boka 04 Kolo Toure 21 Eboue 05 Zokora 09 Tiote 13 Romaric (07 Doumbia, 79) 19 Yaya Toure 10 Gervinho (08 Kalou, 64) 11 Drogba 18 Keita (15 Dindane, 64)
18 Kim Myong-Gil, 20 Kim Myong-Won, 14 Pak Nam-Chol, 16 Nam Song-Chol, 21 Ri Kwang-Hyok, 06 K-I Kim, 15 Kim Yong-Jun, 19 Ri Chol-Myong, 22 Kim Kyong-Il, 23 Pak Sung-hyok, 07 An Chol-Hyok, 12 Choe Kum-Chol Choe		Substitutes: 16 Zogbo, 23 Yeboah, 02 Benjamin, 06 Gohouri, 17 Tiene, 22 Bamba, 12 Gosso, 14 Kone, 07 Doumbia, 08 Kalou, 15 Dindane
Venue: Mbombela Stadium Referee: A Undiano Mallenco Attendance: 34,634

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Luis Fabiano scored two goals to open opportunities Brazil

Brazil progressed to the knockout stages of the World Cup with an efficient rather than effervescent performance against a subdued Ivory Coast.

The scoreline may suggest otherwise but the South Americans lacked the vintage Brazilian sparkle - although they produced moments of brilliance during an incident-packed second-half.

Luis Fabiano scored twice - a fine first-half strike, then a second goal with a dubious hint of handball - and Elano slotted in ahead of Didier Drogba's headed consolation.

But it was a mixed evening for Brazil's playmaker Kaka, who was harshly sent off late in the game after receiving two yellow cards in quick succession.

Kaka saw yellow in the 85th minute for pushing Yaya Toure and a minute later was sent from the field when Abdelkader Keita collapsed holding his face after an innocuous collision between the players which did not warrant a booking.

Prior to that, Kaka - who in the build-up had been the focus of much speculation regarding his lack of form - showed glimpses of the player who was named World Footballer of the Year back in 2007.

He put Luis Fabiano through for the striker's beautifully-taken opening goal and played a role in Elano's second-half strike which sealed Brazil's victory.

Drogba, a mere 16 days after breaking his elbow, started for the Ivory Coast to spearhead an attacking 4-3-3 formation, but the Africans added little oomph to the proceedings.

The Elephants manager Sven-Goran Eriksson had predicted his team would "create a surprise", yet there was little hope of that as they defended deep and allowed Brazil to play at their own pace.

There had been signs over the last few days that the World Cup had moved up a gear, but this game started with the tentativeness which had marred previous matches.

Luis Fabiano's goal thankfully lit up the first half. The Sevilla striker's back-heel to Kaka sparked a nice one-two which finished with a venomous shot into the roof of the net from an acute angle.

Ivory Coast changed their formation after the break with Drogba playing on his own in front of a five-man midfield, but they soon had a mountain to climb as Luis Fabiano struck again.

The striker flicked the ball over one defender, jinked beyond another to clinically finish with a left-footed shot from close range. There was suspicion of handball in his final movement but there were little complaints from Ivory Coast.

Brazil upped the tempo on the hour and Kaka should have finished the best move of the match with a goal but instead he shot straight at Boubacar Copa.

He made amends moments later as he shimmied past a couple of defenders and passed across goal for Elano to side-foot home for his second goal of the tournament.

Ten minutes before the end, Yaya Toure's ball over the top found Drogba who headed home into the corner for a goal which could prove to be significant to Ivory Coast's hopes of qualifying.

Brazil	3-1	Côte d'Ivoire	FT
Luis Fabiano, 25, 50 Elano, 62	(HT 1-0)	Drogba, 79
Team
Brazil 01 Julio Cesar 02 Maicon 03 Lucio 04 Juan 06 Michel Bastos 05 Felipe Melo 07 Elano (Daniel, 67) 08 Silva 10 Kaka 09 Luis Fabiano 11 Robinho (Ramires, 90+3)		Côte d'Ivoire 01 Boubacar Copa 04 Kolo Toure 17 Tiene 20 Demel 21 Eboue (Romaric, 72) 05 Zokora 09 Tiote 19 Yaya Toure 08 Kalou (Keita, 68 ) 11 Drogba 15 Dindane (Gervinho, 54)
12 Gomes, 22 Doni, 13 Daniel, 14 Luisao, 15 Thiago Silva, 16 Gilberto, 17 Josue, 18 Ramires, 19 Julio Baptista, 20 Kleberson, 21 Nilmar, 23 Grafite		Substitutes: 16 Zogbo, 23 Yeboah, 02 Benjamin, 03 Boka, 06 Gohouri, 22 Bamba, 12 Gosso, 13 Romaric, 14 Kone, 07 Doumbia, 10 Gervinho, 18 Keita
Venue: Soccer City Referee: S Lannoy Attendance: 84,455

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