Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (French pronunciation: [didje dʁɔɡba]; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian footballer who plays in the centre forward position. He currently plays for Chelsea in the Premier League and is the captain and all-time top scorer of the Côte d'Ivoire national football team. He has scored more goals for Chelsea than any other foreign player and is currently Chelsea's 6th highest goal scorer of all time.
After playing in youth teams, Drogba made his professional debut aged 18 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans. A late bloomer, he signed his first professional contract aged 21; it was not until the 2002–03 season that he realized his potential, scoring 17 goals in 34 appearances in Ligue 1 for Guingamp. During the same season he made his first international appearance for Côte d'Ivoire, in September, and scored his first international goal the following February. He moved to Olympique de Marseille in 2003 for £3.3 million. His scoring success at Olympique de Marseille continued, finishing as the third highest scorer in Ligue 1 with 19 goals and helped the club to reach the 2004 UEFA Cup Final.
Drogba moved to Chelsea the following season for a record breaking fee of £24 million, making him the most expensive Côte d'Ivoire player in history. In addition, he scored decisive goals in the 2005 Football League Cup Final and in the 2005 FA Community Shield and helped the club win their first ever Premier League title. Drogba came to prominence as one of the world's foremost strikers in 2006 as he won the league title with Chelsea again and captained the national team for the first time. In the 2006 World Cup he scored Côte d'Ivoire's first ever goal of the competition and he was chosen as the 2006 African Footballer of the Year. The next season he finished as top scorer in the 2006–07 Premier League with 20 goals and also scored the winning goals in the 2007 Football League Cup Final and FA Cup Finals. He won the FA Cup for the second time in 2009, scoring the equalizer in the final. In the 2009–10 season Drogba proved instrumental in Chelsea winning their first double in the club's history. He won his second Golden Boot with 29 goals, and scored the only goal in Chelsea's victory over Portsmouth in the 2010 FA Cup Final. This goal makes him the only player to score in 6 English Cup finals.
Drogba is credited with playing a vital role in bringing peace to his country.[4] After Côte d'Ivoire qualified for the 2006 World Cup, Drogba made a desperate plea to the combatants, asking them to lay down their arms, a plea which was answered with a cease fire after 5 years of civil war. Drogba later helped move an African Cup of Nations qualifier to the rebel stronghold of Bouake; a move that helped confirm the peace process. His involvement in the peace process lead to Drogba being named as one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine. Drogba also holds a French passport.
Drogba is a Côte d'Ivoire international and helped the team qualify for its first ever World Cup, held in Germany in 2006. His first cap came on 8 September 2002 against South Africa and he scored his first goal with "The Elephants" on 11 February 2003 against Cameroon in a 3–0 victory.
In February 2006, Drogba captained Côte d'Ivoire to their second African Cup of Nations final, scoring the only goal in their semi-final match with Nigeria and putting away the deciding spot-kick in their record-tying 12–11 penalty shootout quarter-final win over Cameroon. However, they lost in the final to Egypt 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, the Netherlands and Argentina. On 11 June 2006, Drogba scored the first World Cup goal of his career and of his country's history in the opening game against Argentina, but his team lost. Côte d'Ivoire were 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.
In the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, 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. 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 Drogba and 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.
He scored 6 goals in 5 qualification games to helped the Côte d'Ivoire qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations Drogba scored one goal in the 3–1 victory against Ghana in the group stage. Côte d'Ivoire reached the quarter finals but lost 2–3 to Algeria.
In March 2010, he was named as the 2009 African Footballer of the Year, his second time winning the award in his career.
On 4 June 2010, Drogba was injured in a friendly match with Japan. He received the injury in a high challenge from defender Túlio. He fractured his ulna in his right arm and had an operation the next day in the hope of making the finals. On 15 June 2010, Drogba was cleared by FIFA to play in the Ivory Coast's first group game against Portugal wearing a protective cast on his broken arm. The match ended in a goalless draw at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium with Drogba coming on in the 65th minute. On 20 June 2010, Drogba became the first player from an African nation to score against Brazil in a World Cup match, scoring with a header in the 78th minute as the Ivory Coast were defeated 1–3. On 25 June 2010, the Ivory Coast went out of the competition despite winning 3–0 against North Korea in their final match.
Personal life
Drogba is married to Diakité Lalla, a Malian woman whom he met in Paris, and the couple have three children together. His wife is Muslim and Drogba is Catholic. His eldest son, Isaac, was born in France in 1999.He has two younger brothers who are also footballers: Joël and Freddy Drogba. Freddy, 17, is currently in the youth system of French side Le Mans. On 24 January 2007, Drogba was appointed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a Goodwill Ambassador. The UNDP were impressed with his previous charity work and believed that his high profile would help raise awareness on African issues. Drogba's charity work continued when, in late 2009, he announced he would be donating the 3 million GBP signing on fee for his endorsement of Pepsi for the construction of a hospital in his hometown of Abidjan. This work was done through Drogba's recently created "Didier Drogba Foundation" and Chelsea announced they too would donate the fee for the deal toward the Foundation's project. Drogba decided on building the hospital after a recent trip to the Ivorian capital's other hospitals, saying "...I decided the Foundation's first project should be to build and fund a hospital giving people basic healthcare and a chance just to stay alive."
On October 2010, Drogba's first amateur club Levallois Sporting Club named its stadium after the striker. The French club received a percentage of the £24 million fee paid by Chelsea to Marseille in 2004, which allowed the fourth-tier club to upgrade the facility to its present gleaming levels.
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