Didier Drogba has every quality a centre forward needs; he can take set pieces, has a strong shot, and an impressive jump from which he can generate good power on his headers, as Napoli in this seasons Champions League and Bayern Munich in the 2012 Final found out. He is psychically strong, has an immense will to win and can finish from any place on the pitch; he is a great and clinical finisher who can score from few chances as Barcelona found in Stamford Bridge.
He is versatile and even played full back against Barcelona in the 2011-12 Champions League semi-final at the Nou Camp, as Chelsea went down to 10 men, thereby needing defensively stability. As a person, he is an inspirational figure, who has great importance in the world and his country Ivory Coast, shown by the fact that he was named by Time as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.
He is a humanitarian in Africa and world football. He cares about helping his countrymen, shares a bond with his people, and has even helped end a civil war in his country. He has paid them back for their support of him by dedicating his entire reported $4.4 million endorsement fee from Pepsi to the construction of a hospital in Abidjan.
Drogba wants harmony and peace in his country and this could be most seen when he ended a civil war in his own country. He did this when he appealed to his country-men for peace and an end to the conflict in October 2005, after Ivory Coast beat Sudan to qualify for its first World Cup. He said to national TV “Ivorians, men and women, from the north and the south, centre and the west.
We’ve proved to you that the people of Ivory Coast can live together side by side, play together toward the same goal: qualifying for the World Cup. We promised you this celebration would bring the people together. Now we’re asking you to make this a reality. Please, let’s all kneel. Please, put down your weapons, organize the elections and things will get better.” This worked, and the people were able to achieve a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
He is a fantastic footballer and often scores on the big occasion. He proved this time and time again in the Finals and big games for Chelsea, with nine goals in nine Cup finals, including his goal in the 2012 FA Cup Final victory and the equaliser in the 2012 Champions League Final against Bayern Munich in the 88th minute. He also scored the winning penalty in the shoot-out in this Final, which won Chelsea their first Champions League. He got his own personal redemption by taking and scoring that fifth penalty that won the European Cup. This got rid of the pain he, the club, its players, and fans felt from the 2008 Moscow Champions League Final. This is because his sending off forced John Terry to take the fifth penalty that could have won them this trophy. Terry missed and Drogba had to live with his mistake. When he took and scored the fifth penalty, that he was meant to take in the rain of Moscow instead of Terry, he got rid of this heartbreak and pain for himself & many fans by winning the trophy that everyone connected with Chelsea, the owner, players and fans wanted to see them win.
His relationship with Chelsea fans is very strong, as he understands the happiness he created for Chelsea fans after winning them their first European Cup and he said “I wanted to make Chelsea smile compared to the other time when we were all down and crying. My game is about enjoyment on the pitch. I love the relationship with the fans. I know they were really disappointed with what happened in Russia (2008 Champions League Final). My only objective was to come back and show that people can make mistakes but still love the club and fans.”
The emotion of this occasion and Chelsea winning their first Champions League affected him and the other Chelsea players. They could not believe that they had finally won this trophy and it happened after so much adversity and against the odds in all the knockout games, starting with Napoli where they had to overturn a 3-1 deficit from the first leg and managed to do this amazing comeback and managing to beat Barcelona over 2 legs. It was especially impressive they did it with 10 men in the 2nd leg and managed to draw 2-2 from a losing position of 2-0, despite having their Captain Terry sent off and having a full back Bosingwa play at centre back. In the Final they again showed their incredible will to never give up, no matter how bad the situation, when they went 1-0 down when Thomas Müller scored in the 83rd minute, Drogba managed to rescue Chelsea.
In the shoot-out the first Chelsea player Juan Mata missed his penalty while Bayern Munich had scored their first one, yet despite this, they managed to show belief and great mental strength and win the shoot-out. They have finally won the Champions League after many years of pain and heartbreak in this competition and their happiness was there for everyone to see as Drogba and the other player cried tears of joy. After this emotional episode he said “In Moscow it was very difficult, very painful for the club, and tonight we have put that behind us. We gave everything. It was written, I think, a long time ago. I’ve been at this club for eight years and we’ve always been so near yet so far. Now, at least, we have this cup. It’s coming back with us to Stamford Bridge and that’s the best feeling ever.”
He had won Chelsea, the players, fans, owner and himself the trophy that they had dreamed of winning for all their life. It finally arrived after all the years of pain, hardship and suffering and they he had done it despite it being against all the odds. This was an amazing story of a team and their best player and talisman, Didier Drogba, who finally did what they had been trying to do all their lives as footballers and it was drama of the highest calibre.
His tally of one Champions League, three Premier Leagues, four FA Cups and two Carling cups shows he has an extraordinary ability to score in the Finals and not only is he a big game player but one of the best strikers ever seen in the modern era. His goal scoring record was not bad either with 157 goals in 341 games for Chelsea. He has been a true leader for Chelsea, loved by his team-mates and the fans. He may have left Chelsea but will never be forgotten as a legend by Chelsea fans. I think his quote, “I have won many trophies in my time, but nothing will ever top helping win the battle for peace in my country” sums up what a great man he is as a person, as well as a footballer.
Posted by Nicholas Winfield
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