Football - FACTBOX-Soccer-African Footballer of the Year Yaya Toure

Born: May 13, 1983 in Bouake, Ivory Coast * Toure is a product of the fabled ASEC Abidjan academy, which has produced more than 20 players who have gone on to to play for clubs in Europe. He followed in the footsteps of elder brother Kolo Toure * Aged 18, Toure moved to Beveren in Belgium, the club which became a colony of Ivorian players using it as a stepping stone to make inroads into European club football * Toure went on to play for five clubs in five different countries after leaving Beveren. He played for Metalurg Donetsk in Ukraine and had an unsuccessful trial at Arsenal before a first high profile signing for Greek giants Olympiakos in 2005 * Monaco took him to Ligue 1 after one season in Athens, based on his performances at the 2006 World Cup in Germany * Barcelona paid nine million euros for his services in 2007 but after a successful first season he lost his place in the starting lineup and spoke regularly of his desire to leave. * Manchester City paid a reported 24 million pounds in July 2010 to take Toure to the English Premier League. Hobbled off with injury as City dramatically beat Queens Park Rangers on the last day of the season to win a first title in 44 years. * Scored the winner in the 2011 FA Cup final where City ended a 35-year wait for a trophy with a 1-0 win over Stoke City. A league winner in Greece in 2006, Spain in 2009 and 2010 and England in 2012, plus has Cup winners' medals from four different countries. * Debuted for the Ivory Coast in a World Cup qualifier away in Egypt in 2004 and has now amassed almost 70 caps for his country * Played in the last two World Cups for the Ivorians and in four successive African Nations Cup finals since 2006. Has twice reached the final but gone home with silver. (Compiled by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by John Mehaffey)