DALLAS (AP) — Ivory Coast and Liverpool defender Kolo Toure has contracted malaria.
The Ivory Coast team’s head of medical staff Cyrille Dah said in a statement that Toure had likely contracted the illness on a trip to the Ivorian capital Abidjan before he joined up with the squad for its pre-World Cup training camp in Dallas.
Dah said Toure fell ill on a flight to St. Louis on Wednesday ahead of Friday’s friendly against Bosnia. Ivory Coast lost 2-1 without Toure. Dah said the 33-year-old central defender is undergoing treatment and “will return next week.”
Toure has played over 100 games for Ivory Coast, which faces Japan, Colombia and Greece in group games at the World Cup.
Dah said Toure’s brother Yaya and Didier Ya Konan were also recovering from minor injuries.
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