\n
Yaya became the first African coach to guide a team into the UEFA Champions League league phase after qualifying with Slovakian club Slovan Bratislava.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Speaking to SABC Sport during the CAF Strategy Conference on Sal Island in Cape Verde, Kolo described the achievement as the result of sustained preparation and discipline. \u201cThat\u2019s an incredible achievement, and I am very pleased,\u201d Kolo said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s down to Yaya\u2019s hard work and discipline. Yaya has been preparing very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kolo, a former assistant to Manchester City Head Coach Pep Guardiola, said qualification represented an important milestone for African coaching. \u201cYaya qualified for the Champions League, which is a huge success, and I hope Yaya has a good tournament,\u201d Kolo said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are so proud of what Yaya is doing as an African, and we hope that more African coaches can follow in Yaya\u2019s steps.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kolo also welcomed former France Captain Patrick Vieira\u2019s appointment as Senegal Head Coach.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Vieira, who was born in Senegal and played alongside Kolo at Arsenal, has previously held coaching positions in Europe and the United States.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kolo said Vieira had remained committed to African football\u2019s development despite representing France during Vieira\u2019s international playing career.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The appointments come amid signs of progress for African football on and off the field.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nine of Africa\u2019s 10 representatives reached the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, marking a historic performance for the continent.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kolo said former African internationals were increasingly using experience gained at leading clubs and competitions to contribute to football development across the continent.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The CAF Strategy Conference also provided Kolo with an opportunity to engage federation Presidents, coaches and other senior football officials.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kolo attended as a CAF guest and indicated an intention to play a more supportive role in African football.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 45-year-old used the gathering to build relationships and discuss opportunities to support the development of coaches, players and football structures across Africa.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kolo said the progress achieved by Yaya and other African coaches demonstrated that the continent possessed the expertise required to succeed at the highest level.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–SABCSPORT\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":47721,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-47720","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Former C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire Captain Kolo Tour\u00e9 has praised Yaya Tour\u00e9\u2019s historic coaching achievement and called for more African coaches to pursue opportunities at football\u2019s highest level.","published_date":"","news_description":"Former C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire Captain Kolo Tour\u00e9 has praised Yaya Tour\u00e9\u2019s historic coaching achievement and called for more African coaches to pursue opportunities at football\u2019s highest level.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47725,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/47720\/revisions\/47725"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=47720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}