Yaya Toure quits international football

Manchester City’s Yaya Toure has confirmed his retirement from international football after a 12-year career with the Cote d’Ivoire.
The midfielder confirmed the development in a statement on his official website.
The 33-year-old won 102 caps with the Elephants after making his debut in 2004, and notably captained the side to the Africa Cup of Nations title in 2015, ending a 23-year wait for the continental crown.
“Writing this note was probably “the most difficult match of my life’,” Toure began, in a statement on his official site (officialyayatoure.com). “After 14 years at the highest level, I’m sure this is the right time for me!
“The fact that I am 33 now, the intensity of training and the multitude of games are not the reasons why I am making this decision.”
Toure featured for the West African side at three World Cups—in 2006, 2010 and 2014—and was one of the key members of the nation’s fabled golden generation, many of whom, including Toure, came through the nation’s famed ASEX Mimosas academy.
Toure hasn’t played for the national side since a 1-1 draw with Equatorial Guinea in March 2015, but had been rumoured to be in line to compete for Michel Dussuyer’s side at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon.
The midfielder’s club future remains in doubt at City, with the two-time Premier League champion yet to feature in the top flight under new coach Pep Guardiola so far this season.
The four-time African Footballer of the Year replaced Didier Drogba as the Cote d’Ivoire’s captain in 2014, and has featured in six Afcons, losing the final in 2006 and 2012.