:Clémentine Touré

{{short description|Ivorian football player and manager (born 1977)}}

{{Infobox football biography

|embed =

|name = Clémentine Touré

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|birth_date = {{birthdate and age|1977|3|21|df=y}}

|birth_place = Ferkessédougou, Ivory Coast

|death_date =

|death_place =

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|position =

|currentclub = Ivory Coast (manager)

|years1 =

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|caps1 =

|goals1 =

|totalcaps =

|totalgoals =

|nationalyears1 = 1995–2002

|nationalteam1 = Ivory Coast

|nationalcaps1 = 22

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|medaltemplates =

|manageryears1 = 2006

|managerclubs1 = Koumassi Amazons

|manageryears2 = 2006–2008

|managerclubs2 = Águilas Verdes de Guadalupe

|manageryears3 = 2008–2010

|managerclubs3 = Equatorial Guinea

|manageryears4 = 2010–

|managerclubs4 = Ivory Coast

}}

Clémentine Touré (born 21 March 1977) is an Ivorian football manager and former footballer who coaches the Ivory Coast women's national football team. She has also previously coached Equatorial Guinea women's national football team.

Personal life

At elementary school, Touré decided she enjoyed playing football.{{cite magazine| url=http://rhmag.ci/clementine-toure-l-amour-fou-du-ballon-rond-a16.html?pages=subscribe| title=Clémentine Touré, L'amour fou du ballon rond !| language=fr| last=Kacoubi| first=Alexis| magazine=RH Magazine| date=19 November 2016| accessdate=30 November 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202052446/http://rhmag.ci/clementine-toure-l-amour-fou-du-ballon-rond-a16.html?pages=subscribe| archive-date=2 February 2017| url-status=dead}} Her father played professional football, and her two brothers played football, too.{{cite news| url= https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2015/06/08/clementine-toure-la-revanche-d-une-ambitieuse_4649602_3212.html| title= Football : Clémentine Touré, la revanche d'une ambitieuse|last=Schué| first=Romaine| work=Le Monde| language=fr| date=8 June 2015| accessdate=30 November 2018}} Touré has a degree in physical education.

Playing career

As a player, Touré played for a number of Ivorian clubs, as well as in Ghana, where she won three league titles.{{cite web| url= https://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/news/cote-d-ivoire-s-clentine-toure-ready-for-canada-2602312| title= Côte d'Ivoire's Clementine Toure ready for Canada|publisher=FIFA| date=5 May 2015| accessdate=30 November 2018}} She made 22 appearances for the Ivory Coast women's national football team between 1995 and 2002.

Coaching career

Touré's coaching career began in 2004 as an assistant coach at Jeanne d'Arc Treichville. In 2006, she was appointed head coach of the Koumassi Amazons, with whom she won the Ivorian League. The press questioned her appointment as head coach, primarily due to her gender. In 2006, Touré moved to Equatorial Guinea to coach Águilas Verdes de Guadalupe. In 2008, she became head coach of the Equatorial Guinea women's national football team. During her reign, the team won the 2008 African Women's Championship, and came second at the 2010 event, losing to Nigeria in the final.{{cite web| url=https://theconversation.com/womens-afcon-2022-nigeria-sweats-as-morocco-and-cote-divoire-usher-in-new-era-177844| title=Women's Afcon 2022: Nigeria sweats as Morocco and Cote d'Ivoire usher in new era| publisher=The Conversation| date=24 February 2022| accessdate=28 March 2022}}

In 2010, Touré was appointed head coach of the Ivory Coast women's national football team. During her reign as head coach, the team qualified for the 2012 African Women's Championship, where they finished third overall, the 2014 African Women's Championship, and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Touré was one of eight female head coaches at the 24-team 2015 World Cup.{{cite news| url= https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jun/19/ivory-coast-exit-womens-world-cup-africa-support| title= Ivory Coast exit Women's World Cup as Africa pleads for more support| last=Kessel| first=Anna| work=The Guardian| date=19 June 2015| accessdate=30 November 2018}} Prior to the tournament, the national team had never played a match outside Africa, and in their first match, Ivory Coast lost a record 10–0 to Germany. Touré has recruited multiple professional footballers who were born to Ivorian parents outside of the Ivory Coast.

At The Best FIFA Football Awards 2018, Touré was on the panel to award The Best FIFA Women's Player and The Best FIFA Women's Coach awards.{{cite news| url= https://www.foxsports.com.br/news/366185-ronaldo-kaka-e-parreira-serao-jurados-no-premio-de-melhor-do-mundo-da-fifa| title= Ronaldo, Kaká e Parreira serão jurados no prêmio de Melhor do Mundo da FIFA|language=pt| work=Fox Sports| date=4 July 2018| accessdate=30 November 2018}} During the COVID-19 pandemic, Touré supported a FIFA and World Health Organization initiative against domestic violence during lockdowns.{{cite web| url= https://www.goal.com/en/news/fifa-and-who-launch-campaign-to-help-domestic-violence/1496vtghsp8pj17xxpg15q92m4| title= FIFA and WHO launch campaign to help domestic violence victims amid coronavirus lockdown| publisher=Goal| date=27 May 2020| accessdate=18 November 2020}} In 2020, she became a supporter of the joint FIFA and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime "Recover with Integrity" campaign against corruption in football.{{cite web|url=https://insidersport.com/2020/12/10/fifa-combats-corruption-in-football-with-new-unodc-campaign/| title= FIFA combats corruption in football with new UNODC campaign| publisher=Insider Sport| date=10 December 2020| accessdate=9 February 2021}}

Touré's Ivory Coast team failed to qualify for the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations, after losing in qualifying to Nigeria. It was the third consecutive AFCON that they had failed to qualify for.{{cite news| url=https://afrikipresse.fr/interview-can-2022-des-dames-toure-clementine-explique-lelimination-des-elephantes/| title=Interview – CAN 2022 des Dames : Touré Clémentine explique l'élimination des Éléphantes| language=fr| work=Afriki Presse| date=24 February 2022| accessdate=28 March 2022}}