Liverpool defender Kolo Toure was a major doubt for the World Cup 2014 after suffering a bout of malaria just before the start of the tournament. He was absent from most of the warmup friendly matches, but his presence was imperative for the national team since he remains as one of the quality defenders available for selection. Manager Sabri Lamouchi was hoping that Toure will recover from the malaria problem sooner rather than later. It seems to have been the case after the former Manchester City and Arsenal man has just returned to first team training.
He is expected to be fit for Ivory Coast’s opening match of the tournament against Japan. They come into the tournament on the back of an inconsistent form that has raised doubts about their aspirations of reaching the knockout stages. This is seen as the final hurrah for the Ivory Coast team with stars like Didier Drogba and Kolo Toure approaching the end of their careers. Toure has stated that the malaria issue certainly proved to be a major scare, but he is now fully behind the problem and has never felt better.
The 33-year-old previously suffered this disease back in 2008 when he was playing for Arsenal. He has since recovered sufficiently to play at the top level.
“I feel great. The malaria was just for two days. Obviously we have the medical department that knows malaria very well and they gave me tablets. I was in bed for two days. When they heard the news everyone was talking. I had a phone call from my club, from people around the world. I’m absolutely fine because my body is used to that kind of sickness, it’s not the first time and it won’t be the last,” said the 33-year-old defender, who moved to Liverpool last summer.