“I would have preferred that this not be known, that his coming would remain between us. It was a private courtesy visit. I was even on the verge of telling the players not to take photos,” Adrian Ursea said this Thursday. The day before at the end of the day, the Etoile Carouge coach quickly understood that the visit of his friend Yaya Touré (41 years old) was not going to go unnoticed, that the passage of the former midfielder of notably Barcelona (118 matches) and Manchester City (316 matches) would quickly find out. And there was no shortage of that…
The club on the banks of the Arve itself had to communicate immediately by publishing on social networks a photo of the team posing with the former Ivorian international (101 caps, 19 goals). A photo taken at the initiative of Captain Aurélien Chappuis, with the approval of the famous guest.
“From the moment he was there, I couldn’t hide Yaya Touré from the eyes of the players,” admits the Fontenette coach. He attended our training and afterwards I went to dinner with him and a few other people. This Wednesday evening, we can say that Carouge had stars in his eyes.”
But how could such a prestigious guest arrive at the newly promoted house like this? This is due to the history that links the two technicians. “We met through mutual friends,” says Adrian Ursea. We’ve been around each other for a while and liked each other, starting shortly after my visit to Nice. I also met him in London. We often talked with each other, even talking about the possibility of perhaps working together one day. He is in the process of completing his coaching diplomas.”
After a final playing experience in China (Qingdao Huanghai) in 2019, Yaya Touré was appointed assistant coach of Olimpik Donetsk, in Ukraine, in February 2021. After a stint at Tottenham (within the team) and in Belgium (Standard de Liège), he was recently Roberto Mancini’s deputy on the Saudi Arabian bench.
The presence of Yaya Touré (41 years old) on the Bords de l’Arve lawn should have brought back an older memory to the current Stellien coach. “While I was still a player at Carouge, Luc Perret (editor’s note: the former president) had called Phil Collins into the locker room one day. He was one of his great friends… You can imagine the surprise. Except that at that time, social networks did not exist.
After the international break and the emotions aroused by training like no other, Etoile Carouge will return to the reality of the championship this Friday evening, with the reception of Bellinzona (kick-off 8:15 p.m.). “The Ticino club remains a big piece,” assures Ursea. For me, it’s one of the three best squads in the Challenge League. For us, the goal is to continue learning while remaining true to our ideas.”
