Yaya Says he is not recognized as one of the world's best because he is from Africa......Media please face your work, promote African players

Yaya Toure, 30, has 22 goals this season, helping City to win the League Cup and challenge for the Premier League title.

The midfielder has won league titles in four countries - Ivory Coast, Greece, Spain and England - and was part of the Barcelona team that won the Champions League in 2009.

He also feels fellow countryman Didier Drogba and Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o are undervalued because they are African.

"To be honest, proper recognition has only come from the fans," said the three-time African player of the year, also voted BBC African footballer of the year in 2013. "I don't want to be hard and I don't want to be negative, but I want to be honest."

Toure feels the media should do more to promote African players.

"If we play well and we don't have the recognition from the media, we are not going to be where we want to be," he said.

"If you go to any part of Africa now, people will say 'yes, we know him [Lionel Messi]', but when you come to Europe and say 'Yaya Toure' people will say 'who is that?' 

"Some will say they know my name but not know my face. But they will know Messi's face.
"I am very proud to be African, I want to defend African people and I want to show to the world that African players can be as good as the Europeans and South Americans."