The 32-year-old Manchester City midfielder has not played for his country since captaining the Ivorians to Nations Cup success in February last year, missing several qualifiers for the next Nations Cup finals in Gabon in 2017 plus the start of the preliminaries for the 2018 World Cup. “Yaya Toure had requested a break, which was understandable. He had given much to the selection and wished to catch his breath,” said coach Michel Dussuyer in an interview on the Ivorian Football Federation website (www.fedivoir.com) on Thursday.
“I think he put that time to good use to relax and set new goals, such as winning a second straight African title and looking to play at the World Cup for a fourth time, which would be exceptional and enrich his already magnificent record.”
Max Gradel of Bournemouth returns after injury to the 24-man squad for the two games in Abidjan on March 25 and Khartoum four days later, while Sunderland defender Lamine Kone, a former French junior international, gets his first call-up.
The squad also includes Paris St Germain fullback Serge Aurier, who was suspended by the French champions last month for insulting coach Laurent Blanc and several team mates in a video posted online.
Aurier has been training since the end of last month with the PSG reserves.
(Reporting by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Clare Fallon)
