MADRID, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Barcelona have asked Cameroon
striker Samuel Eto'o and Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure not to
represent their countries at the African Nations Cup in Ghana in
January.
"I don't know if they'll go and I hope they don't but we can't
force them," Barca sports director Txiki Begiristain told Spanish
radio station RAC1. "For Eto'o it would be a strange year. Injury,
recovery and then international duty. I asked Toure before we
signed him. "Ronaldinho did not go to the Copa America (in June)
and it was a brave decision. But I understand how important they
are for their countries."
Eto'o, the three-times African Player of the Year, has been
sidelined since the beginning of September after undergoing surgery
on a thigh injury. Toure, who is also out with a thigh injury,
joined Barca from Monaco in June.
Ronaldinho, along with AC Milan's Kaka, both asked to be left out
of Dunga's Brazil squad for the Copa America in Venezuela in June,
saying they needed a break from playing.
The African Nations Cup runs from Jan. 20 to Feb. 10.
