Yaya Touré and Wilfried Bony are returning to Ivory Coast to celebrate the Africa Cup of Nations triumph so will not be available for Manchester City’s visit to Stoke City on Wednesday evening.
City’s 1-1 draw with Hull City on Saturday left the champions seven points behind Chelsea and so they must defeat Stoke to retain realistic hopes of defending the title.
As Manuel Pellegrini’s side have been knocked out of the FA Cup, their next game is the visit of Newcastle United on Saturday week, meaning that is the first match Touré and Bony, the new £26m signing from Swansea who is yet to make debut, can play in.
Touré captained the Ivory Coast to Sunday’s 9-8 penalty shoot-out win over Ghana in Equatorial Guinea, the midfielder taking a successful kick in a victory claimed by the goalkeeper Boubacar Barry, who scored the winning penalty having saved from his opposite number Razak Braimah.
While Bony crashed his spot-kick against the crossbar, the Ivorians are expected in Abidjan on Monday for an official reception after becoming African champions for the first time since 1992.
Bony said: “We just want to enjoy it and think about nothing else for the rest of the week, then continue with our teams.”
Touré denied he intends to retire from international football. “Leaving? Retired? Me? I’m 31, my friend. No, that’s my brother [Kolo]. When you see something, you want to repeat it. But it’s difficult, when you’ve lost it before [in two previous finals]. But now I’m very happy, and I’m going to enjoy it with my friends.”
