Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (born March 11, 1978 in Abidjan, Côte
d'Ivoire) is footballer from Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) who
currently plays for Chelsea F.C.
Didier Drogba moved to France at the age of five and started his
career with Le Mans. He was used both in attack and defence in
his early days at Le Mans, largely because of his height - he
stands over 6'. However, Drogba found his home on the football
pitch up front, using his height and excellent heading technique
to impress at Le Mans. Having scored 7 goals in 42 appearances,
he moved to Guingamp. After scoring just 8 goals in his first
two seasons, he scored 17 in 34 games for Guingamp in 2002/3.
This attracted the attention of France's larger clubs, and it
was Olympique de Marseille who eventually signed him, for a
reported £4 million.
Olympique de Marseille
Drogba came to prominence on the European stage for Marseille in
the 2003/4 season, scoring 30 goals in all competitions. He
scored 17 goals in Ligue 1 and 11 goals in the UEFA Cup as his
side reached the final, though they lost to Valencia. He was
voted French Player of the Year in the same season. Despite some
impressive, match-winning displays in Ligue 1, it was Drogba's
performances in the UEFA Cup that caught the eye of several of
Europe's big clubs. Drogba's individual goal against Liverpool
and another against Newcastle United in the latter stages of the
tournament underlined his quality. After a long and protracted
negotiation period, Marseille eventually sold him to Chelsea of
England for around £25 million. He is also remembered for
scoring a perfect hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League (Left
foot, right foot, header)
Chelsea
Drogba became Chelsea's then record-signing in July 2004 and
adapted well to the Premier League, scoring in his third game
for the club with a thunderous header against Crystal Palace.
His season was interrupted when he pulled a stomach muscle
against Liverpool, which kept him out of action for over two
months. Despite this he enjoyed the second best goals-to-minutes
ratio in the Premier League, prolific Frenchman Thierry Henry
being the only player to better him in this respect. He scored
16 goals in 40 games for Chelsea in his first season, but was
criticized for being inconsistent.
The season proved very successful for Chelsea as they won the
Premiership and the Carling Cup, with Drogba scoring in extra
time in a 3-2 final win against Liverpool at the Millennium
Stadium. He played an important part in his team's run to the
semi-finals of the Champions League, where he scored a brace
against ex-club Marseille's arch-rivals Paris Saint-Germain and
another two goals in both legs of the quarter-final against
Bayern Munich.
He made an impressive start to the 2005/6 season, scoring two
goals in a Community Shield win over Arsenal and putting in a
man-of-the-match performance in a 4-1 win against Liverpool at
Anfield.
International
Drogba is a Côte d'Ivoire international and helped the team
qualify for its first ever World Cup Finals, to be held in
Germany in 2006. In February 2005 he was voted runner-up to
Samuel Eto'o in the African Footballer of the Year awards. |
