Didier Drogba

Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (born 11 March 1978 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire) is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the Forward (association football) position. Didier Drogba currently plays for the Côte d'Ivoire national football team as well as Chelsea F.C. in the Premier League.

As a young child Drogba moved to France. After playing in youth teams, Drogba made Didier Drogba professional debut aged 18 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans Union Club 72. A late bloomer, Didier Drogba signed Didier Drogba first professional contract aged 21 but it was not until the 2002–03 season that Didier Drogba realised Didier Drogba potential, scoring 17 goals in 34 appearances in Ligue 1 for En Avant Guingamp. During the same season Didier Drogba made Didier Drogba first international appearance for Côte d'Ivoire national football team in September and scored Didier Drogba first international goal the following February. Didier Drogba moved to Olympique de Marseille in 2003 for Pound Sterling3.3 million and Didier Drogba prolific ways continued, finishing as the third highest scorer in the league with 19 goals and making it to the 2004 UEFA Cup Final.

Drogba moved to Chelsea F.C. the following season for a record breaking fee of £24 million and helped the club win their first ever Premier League title. In addition, Drogba scored decisive goals in the 2005 FA Community Shield and 2005 Football League Cup Final. Drogba came to prominence as one of the world's foremost strikers in 2006 as Didier Drogba won the league title with Chelsea again and captained the national team for the first time. In the 2006 World Cup Didier Drogba scored Côte d'Ivoire's first ever goal of the competition and Didier Drogba was chosen as the 2006 African Footballer of the Year. The next season Didier Drogba finished as top scorer in the FA Premier League 2006-07 with 20 goals and also scored the winning goal in the 2007 FA Cup Final.

Away from the pitch, Drogba is known for Didier Drogba charity work and was appointed by the United Nations Development Programme as a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassadors in 2007. Didier Drogba has three children with Didier Drogba wife, a Malian, Alla.

Early life

Didier Drogba was born in Côte d'Ivoire and at the age of five Didier Drogba was sent to France by Didier Drogba parents to live with Didier Drogba uncle, Michel Goba, a professional footballer. However, Drogba soon became homesick and returned to Abidjan after three years. Didier Drogba played football every day in a car park in the city but Didier Drogba return to Côte d'Ivoire was short lived. Both of Didier Drogba parents lost their jobs and Didier Drogba again returned to live with Didier Drogba uncle. In 1991, Didier Drogba parents also travelled to France, first to Vannes and then settling in 1993 at Antony, Hauts-de-Seine in the Paris suburbs, at which point the 15-year-old Drogba returned to live with them and Didier Drogba siblings. It was here that Didier Drogba began playing team football more frequently, joining a local youth side.

Club career

Le Mans and Guingamp

Drogba began Didier Drogba career as a junior player at the semi-professional club Levallois SC, gaining a reputation as a prolific scorer in the youth team and impressing the coach with Didier Drogba professional attitude. Didier Drogba performances earned Didier Drogba a place in the senior squad but, despite scoring on Didier Drogba debut, the 18-year-old Ivorian failed to make an impression on Jacques Loncar, the first team coach. When Didier Drogba finished school Didier Drogba switched cities to study accountancy at college and Didier Drogba had to change club, becoming an apprentice at Ligue 2 club Le Mans Union Club 72. However, Didier Drogba first two years there were marred by injuries and Didier Drogba was physically struggling to cope with the training and match schedule.

By age 21, Drogba realized that Didier Drogba had to establish himself as a player soon or else Didier Drogba would have little chance of becoming a professional footballer. Didier Drogba made Didier Drogba first team debut for Le Mans soon thereafter and signed Didier Drogba first professional contract in 1999. Drogba's personal life was also becoming more serious as Didier Drogba and Didier Drogba wife Alla, a Malian, had their first child, Isaac. Didier Drogba grew into Didier Drogba new responsibilities later stating: "Isaac's birth was a turning point in my life, it straightened me out". Halfway through the 2001–02 season Ligue 1 club En Avant Guingamp consolidated months of interest with a transfer offer and Drogba left Le Mans for a fee of £80,000. However, the next season Didier Drogba rewarded Didier Drogba coaches' patience, scoring 17 goals in 34 appearances and helping Guingamp finish seventh, a record league finish.

Chelsea

Signing for Chelsea in July 2004 for £24 million, Drogba scored in Didier Drogba third game for the club with a header against Crystal Palace F.C.. Didier Drogba season was interrupted when Didier Drogba pulled a stomach muscle against which kept Didier Drogba out of action for over two months. Chelsea won the Premiership, only their second English top-flight championship and their first in 50 years, and the Football League Cup, with Drogba scoring in extra time in a 3-2 final win against Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium, as well as reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League. Drogba scored 16 goals in 40 games for Chelsea in Didier Drogba first season: 10 in the Premiership, five in the Champions League and one in the Football League Cup final.

Drogba started the 2005-06 in English football season by scoring two goals in a FA Community Shield win over Arsenal F.C.. Didier Drogba reputation was marred amidst accusations of cheating during Chelsea's 2-0 win over Manchester City F.C.. Replays showed that Didier Drogba had used Didier Drogba hand to control the ball before scoring the second of Didier Drogba two goals. Coming just a week after a similar incident against Fulham where the goal was disallowed, Drogba was accused of cheating. In a post match interview with the BBC, Didier Drogba acknowledged that Didier Drogba had handled the ball and seemingly admitted to cheating, saying, "Sometimes I Diving (football), sometimes I stand," before immediately retracting Didier Drogba comment: "I don't dive, I play my game". Pundits speculated afterwards that the comments may have been due to Drogba's grasp of English language being poor.

Chelsea went on to retain the league title with two games to play, becoming only the second team to win back-to-back English titles in the Premier League era. Again Drogba finished with 16 goals for the season, 12 in the league, two in the Community Shield, one in the Champions League and one in the FA Cup.

2006–07

After the departure of Damien Duff to Newcastle United F.C., Drogba switched from the number 15 shirt Didier Drogba had worn for Chelsea since 2004 to the number 11 shirt vacated by Duff. The season was a personal success for Drogba as Didier Drogba hit 33 goals in all competitions (more than Didier Drogba tally in the previous two seasons combined), including 20 in the Premier League to win the English football champions Premier League .281992.E2.80.93present.29. In doing so, Didier Drogba became the first Chelsea player since Kerry Dixon in 1984-85 in English football to reach 30 goals in a season. The breakdown of Didier Drogba 33 goals is; 20 in the Premier League, five in the UEFA Champions League, three in the FA Cup and four in the Football League Cup.

Among the highlights were scoring winners from outside the penalty area against Liverpool F.C., Everton F.C. and FC Barcelona, a 93rd minute equalizer against Barcelona at the Camp Nou and both Chelsea's goals in their 2-1 Football League Cup Final 2007 win over Arsenal F.C.. Didier Drogba also completed two hat-tricks; one against Watford F.C. and the other against Levski Sofia in the Champions League, Chelsea's first hat-trick in UEFA competition since Gianluca Vialli in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1997-98. In Didier Drogba last competitive game that season, Didier Drogba scored the winning goal over Manchester United F.C. in the first FA Cup Final 2007 at the new Wembley Stadium. This also meant that Didier Drogba joined Norman Whiteside (Manchester United in 1983) and Mark Hughes (Manchester United in 1994) as players who have scored goals in both domestic Finals in the same year in England, although Drogba was the first player to end up on the winning team after scoring in both finals.

In January 2007, Drogba was crowned the Ivorian Player of the Year, ahead of Kader Keita, Aruna Dindane, and Kolo Toure. In March, Didier Drogba was named African Footballer of the Year for the first time, ahead of Samuel Eto'o and Michael Essien. Didier Drogba performances during the season saw Didier Drogba named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year and runner-up to Cristiano Ronaldo in the PFA Player of the Year awards.

Drogba faced problems off the pitch during the close season as Didier Drogba transfer from Olympique de Marseille to Chelsea F.C. in July 2004 came under scrutiny. The 2006 allegations of corruption in English football Stevens report in June 2007 expressed concerns because of the lack of co-operation from agents Pinhas Zahavi and Barry Silkman.

2007–08

The 2007-08 in English football began badly for Drogba as Didier Drogba expressed doubts about the departure of manager José Mourinho. Didier Drogba was reportedly in tears when Mourinho told Didier Drogba Didier Drogba was leaving the club, and said "Mourinho's departure destroys a certain familiarity we had at the club. Many of us used to play first and foremost for the manager. Now we need to forget those feelings and find another source of motivation". Following these claims, Drogba told France Football Magazine "I want to leave Chelsea. Something is broken with Chelsea, The damage is big in the dressing room". Despite having signed a four year contract with the club in 2006, Drogba reportedly pointed out several favoured clubs in the interview, identifying FC Barcelona, Real Madrid C.F., A.C. Milan or F.C. Internazionale Milano as possible future destinations, Didier Drogba later admitted Didier Drogba regretted this and was 100% committed to Chelsea. Despite media speculation, Drogba's Penalty card for the clash was deemed adequate punishment by the FA.

Controversy still dogged the player as before the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg clash with Liverpool FC, Drogba was accused of diving by Liverpool coach Rafael Benítez. Benítez claimed to have compiled a four-year dossier of Drogba's "diving" antics but Drogba hit back at Benítez saying in an interview with L'Equipe:

"Benítez was a coach I used to respect a lot. I used to believe Didier Drogba had class but Didier Drogba has seriously disappointed me. Didier Drogba words have shown Didier Drogba weakness. A great coach will never attack a player so meanly. If Didier Drogba doesn't want me to fall down Didier Drogba should focus on Didier Drogba team's game and tell Didier Drogba defenders to stop fouling me. In the first leg, Jamie Carragher and Martin Škrteľ didn't stop. At the end of the match I was covered in bruises. Last year, I picked up a broken rib during the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool"

On 30 April 2008 Drogba scored two goals in the UEFA Champions League semi-final against Liverpool F.C., which Chelsea F.C. won 3-2 at Stamford Bridge (stadium). This was the first time Chelsea had beaten Liverpool in the semi-finals of the Champions League, having lost their previous two meetings to Liverpool. This also led to Chelsea reaching their first Champions League Final. Drogba became Chelsea's top scorer in European competition, the two goals Didier Drogba scored putting Didier Drogba tally at 17, beating Peter Osgood's record of 16. Drogba was sent off in the 117th minute of the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final for slapping defender Vidić, becoming only the second player to be sent off in a European Cup final - after Jens Lehmann in 2006 - and the first for violent conduct. Chelsea went on to lose 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in extra time. Chelsea assistant boss Henk ten Cate revealed Drogba was due to take the crunch fifth spot-kick in the shootout. Team captain John Terry took Didier Drogba place but missed after slipping whilst taking the penalty.

2008–09

Drogba suffered a string of injuries early on in the season and struggled to regain fitness, missing games from August to November due to knee problems. Didier Drogba scored Didier Drogba first goal of the season in mid-November but there was little reason to celebrate: Didier Drogba incurred disciplinary action and a three match ban for throwing a coin back into the stands and Chelsea suffered a League Cup defeat against Burnley F.C.. Drogba scored Didier Drogba second goal of the season in a 2–1 victory against CFR Cluj in the UEFA Champions League, while Didier Drogba first Premier League goal of the season came in a 2–0 win against West Bromwich Albion in late December 2008. Having missed many games through injury and suspension, Drogba had lost Didier Drogba first team place and manager Scolari favoured playing Nicolas Anelka as a lone striker rather than pairing the two. However, Didier Drogba resolved to regain Didier Drogba position in the squad and Chelsea remained keen to keep the Ivorian.

Upon the temporary appointment of Guus Hiddink in early February following the sacking of Scolari, Drogba enjoyed a rejuvenation of sorts, returning to Didier Drogba rich goal-scoring form with four goals in five games after the new manager took over. Didier Drogba revival in form saw Didier Drogba net twice against Bolton Wanderers, and four times in four Champions League matches, one in each leg of the last sixteen and quarter final of the competition against Juventus and Liverpool respectively, with these goals ensuring Chelsea's passage into the semi-finals. Just four days after Didier Drogba Champions League heroics, Drogba scored a late winner in the FA Cup semi-final match against Arsenal F.C. after Frank Lampard's superb pass found Drogba and Didier Drogba carefully rounded Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski before slotting into an empty net. Drogba also caused controversy after Chelsea's Champions League semi-final defeat at the hands of FC Barcelona. Feeling that many decisions had gone against Chelsea, substituted Drogba confronted referee Tom Henning Øvrebø after the final whistle. Didier Drogba received a Penalty card Yellow card in the process and was recorded shouting "it's a fucking disgrace" into a television camera. On 17 June 2009 UEFA subsequently handed Didier Drogba a six game European ban with the final two games suspended.The ban then was cut down by 1 match after an appeal by Chelsea F.C In the 2009 FA Cup Final Didier Drogba scored Chelsea's first and equalising goal as they went on to win 2-1. This was Didier Drogba sixth goal in a major cup final in England.

Although Drogba had previously expressed Didier Drogba desire to switch clubs, Didier Drogba decided to remain with the Blues under new coach Carlo Ancelotti and sign a new contract.

International career

Drogba is a Côte d'Ivoire national football team international and helped the team qualify for its first ever Football World Cup, held in 2006 FIFA World Cup. Didier Drogba is the leading scorer for the Cote d'Ivoire team. Didier Drogba first cap came on 8 September 2002 against South Africa and Didier Drogba scored Didier Drogba first goal with "The Elephants" on 11 February 2003 against Cameroon in a 3–0 victory. Didier Drogba scored nine goals in eight qualifying games—statistically one of the best records in international football. In February 2005 Didier Drogba was voted runner-up to Samuel Eto'o in the African Footballer of the Year awards. Didier Drogba has scored 38 times in 61 cap (sport), as of 19 July 2009. It is considered probable that Didier Drogba holds the all-time goalscoring record for Côte d'Ivoire, but due to uncertainty surrounding other players' statistics, this cannot be confirmed.

In February 2006, Drogba captained Côte d'Ivoire to their second African Nations Cup final, scoring the only goal in their semi-final match with Nigeria national football team and putting away the deciding spot-kick in their record-tying 12–11 penalty shootout quarter-final win over Cameroon national football team. However, they lost in the final to Egypt national football team 4–2 on penalties after a 0–0 draw, with Drogba's shot being stopped by Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary in a penalty shoot-out.

In the 2006 World Cup, Côte d'Ivoire were drawn in a "group of death" with Serbia and Montenegro national football team, the Netherlands national football team and Argentina national football team. On 11 June 2006, Drogba scored the first FIFA World Cup goal of Didier Drogba career and of Didier Drogba country's history in the opening game against Argentina, but Didier Drogba team lost 2–1. At the post-match press conference, Drogba praised Didier Drogba team-mates for a good overall performance (singling out Bakari Kone and Didier Zokora in particular), but said that Didier Drogba and Didier Drogba team-mates had to work as a team and be more efficient in possession: "Football's not an individual sport, you win and lose as a team...We had a lot of chances but did not take them and they did. That's the difference between big teams like Argentina and small teams like us".

Côte d'Ivoire was eliminated from the World Cup after their next game, a 1–2 defeat to the Netherlands, but came from 0–2 down to win against Serbia and Montenegro 3–2 in their final group game, with Drogba watching from the sidelines following suspension. Drogba was seen celebrating wildly with Didier Drogba Ivorian teammates in the dugout at the final whistle. Didier Drogba later told German television that Didier Drogba was "immensely proud" of Didier Drogba teammates, and felt that the team had done Africa proud, especially by demonstrating resolve and refusing to accept defeat.

In the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations African Nations Cup, Côte d'Ivoire were drawn in a group with Nigeria, Mali and underdogs Benin. Drogba scored two goals in the group stage, opening the scoring in the 4–1 win over Benin and the first on the score sheet again in the 3–0 win over Mali. Côte d'Ivoire had beaten Nigeria earlier on in the group through a Salomon Kalou goal, and so they went through to the Quarter Finals comfortably, finishing top of group B. In the quarter finals, Drogba was on the score sheet once again in the 5–0 thrashing of Guinea with the last four goals coming in the final twenty minutes. The semi final was a rematch of the 2006 final against Egypt, but it was to be the end of the road for Didier and the Côte d'Ivoire, at the hands of the 2006 champions, losing 4–1 and then had no more luck in third place play-off, losing 4–2 to Ghana. Drogba ended up joint top scorer for the Côte d'Ivoire along with Salomon Kalou, Abdul Kader Keita and Boubacar Sanogo on three goals.

Personal life

Drogba is married to Alla, a Malian woman whom Didier Drogba met in Paris, and the couple have three children together. Didier Drogba eldest son, Isaac, was born in France in 1999. On 24 January 2007, Drogba was appointed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassadors. The UNDP were impressed with Didier Drogba previous charity work and believed that Didier Drogba high profile would help raise awareness on African issues.

Club career statistics

144, and has scored twice in a match on six occasions.
{: FA Premier League 2004–05, FA Premier League 2005–06
- FA Cup: 2007 FA Cup Final, 2009 FA Cup Final
- Football League Cup: 2005 Football League Cup Final, 2007 Football League Cup Final
- FA Community Shield: 2005 FA Community Shield
- World Football Challenge: World Football Challenge
Individual
- Onze d'Or: 2004
- UEFA Cup: 2004
- Ligue 1 Trophées UNFP du football Player of the Year: 2004
- African Footballer of the Year: 2006
- English football champions Premier_League .281992.E2.80.93present.29: 2007
- Ivorian Footballer of the Year: 2006, 2007
- Record Côte d'Ivoire national football team Goalscorer