How the Toure Brothers Helped End a 44-Year Title Wait

G'day Hive. Today I write about one of the few siblings in history that were able to dominate for both club and country. The pair were able to become among the best at their respective positions in the world at the same time. I'm talking about the Toure brothers.

You can also check out my recent posts about other football pairings | Boateng Brothers | Alcantara Brothers | Neville Brothers

Kolo Toure was a couple years older than his brother Yaya and played as a centre-back. Yaya played most of his career as a box-to-box midfielder. Toure first got his break in the Premier League in 2002 at Arsenal, able to obtain a British work permit as a full international of the Ivory Coast setup. Kolo would form a formidable partnership in central defence next to Sol Campbell, making a name for himself during "The Invincibles" Arsenal team that won the 2003-04 Premier League season and going undefeated in the league season.

Kolo enjoyed eight seasons in London including filling in as captain at times until a bust-up with William Gallas changed all that. It led to his wish to leave the club which he ultimately did so in 2009, moving to Manchester City which was a club beginning to peak.

Yaya on the other hand had a different journey up until this point. Despite interest from Arsene Wenger and Arsenal, he had difficult obtaining a work permit so he opted to play for Belgian side K.S.K. Beveren in 2001 and Ukrainian club Metalurh Donetsk in 2003 along with another brother of the pair, Ibrahim Touré. After some time with Olympiacos, he impressed at the 2006 World Cup and was signed by French club Monaco. A move to Barcelona followed and in 2010 he would sign a five-year deal with Manchester City, teaming up with his brother Kolo who joined a year earlier,

In 2011 the brothers would team up at Manchester City, with Kolo now club captain. The pair would help Manchester City to their first trophy in 35 years by winning the 2011 FA Cup Final with Yaya Toure scoring the only goal against Stoke City. The brothers would keep going from strength to strength as Yaya began to cement himself as one of the worlds best midfielders. He would set a Premier League record for most pass attempts and passes completed in 2011.

Kolo was used mostly as a squad player by this time and had his captaincy stripped in favour of Carlos Tevez. In 2012 the Toure brothers helped City claim Manchester City's first league title in 44 years, Kolo joining an exclusive club of winning an EPL winners medal with two different clubs.

In 2013 Kolo was sold to Liverpool as his role in Manchester continued to diminish. Yaya - two years Kolo's junior - stayed for another five years following his brothers departure from the club and managed to win another two Premier League titles. Sadly in 2014, the third brother Ibrahim Toure, who I mentioned had joined Yaya in Ukraine, had passed away after a short battle with cancer at the age of 28. Ibrahim wouldn't reach the heights of Yaya and Kolo but he did play in the Egyptian and Lebanese Premier Leagues.

It was sad news for the family and Ibrahim wouldn't make it to see the brothers play against each other for the first time in their careers in 2015, Kolo's Liverpool defeating City 2-1. By the time they would retire, the Toure brothers combined for 583 Premier League games, 74 goals and five Premier League titles.

Both Kolo and Yaya Toure would unite at Manchester City in 2010 and help win the clubs first Premier League title in 44 years.
Source: Photo by John Urquhart shared under Creative Commons (CC) license.

The Toure brothers also shared success on the international stage with Ivory Coast. Kolo was capped 120 times, the second-most for the nation. Yaya wasn't far behind with 101 caps.

Both brothers made appearances in Ivory Coast's first ever World Cup in 2006 as well as in 2010 and 2014. The brothers were party of the country's "golden generation" which included stars Didier Drogba, Emmanuel Eboue, Gervinho, Salomon Kalou and Didier Zokora. "Les Éléphants" (The Elephants) beat Serbia and Montenegro in 2006 but crashed out at the group stages.

In 2010 a win over North Korea (in which Yaya Toure scored) and a draw against Portugal was not enough to progress to the knockout stages. In their final group stage game at the 2014 World Cup, a point would have been enough against Greece to progress to the knockout stages. Unfortunately for the Ivory Coast, Greece scored a 93rd minute penalty to win 2-1 and leapfrog Ivory Coast into second place, progressing to the knockout stages for the first time in their history.

Ivory Coast's time would come. In Kolo's last ever contribution for the national team, he scored a penalty in the 2015 African Cup of Nations shootout, the Ivory Coast beating Ghana 9-8 on penalties after the match finished 0-0. It was a fitting end for best defender in Ivorian history. Yaya would retire from the national team the very next year, no doubt the country's best ever midfielder.

It would've been an honour for the Toure brothers to play together, turning out for City 47 times together. City fans will forever be thankful to the pair who helped end a painful 44 years between titles.

Let me leave you with Steven Gerrard leading his Liverpool teammates in one of the best chants in history. A Yaya / Kolo Toure chant. Enough said.

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