32 Greatest footballers in the history of the English Premier League - Part 16
20. Didier Drogba:
Didier Drogba is an African footballer who was born in the African country Ivory Coast. He currently plays professional football at the English club Chelsea and is also a part of the national team of Cote d’Ivoire. He plays as a striker, mostly as a centre forward and is also the top-scorer for his team Cote d’Ivoire. Didier Drogba has scored more goals than any other foreign player in the history of the English Premier Club, Chelsea and currently he is the 6th highest goal-scorer for “The Blues.”
Didier Drogba played for different youth teams but he made his professional debut, when he was 18 years old appearing for the “Le Mans” club in Ligue 2. Didier Drogba is still considered to be a “late bloomer” as he signed the professional contract very late, compared to the young players who sign contracts at the age of 18 or 19 in the English Premier League. Drogba signed his first professional contract when he was 21 years old. Didier Drogba wasn’t an outstanding striker, when he started to play as a regular player for the Ligue 1 team Guingamp. However, during the 2002-2003 season, the world saw him score 17 goals in only 34 appearances that he made.
In the 2002-2003, Drogba was selected for the national team of Ivory Coast, and in February he was able to score his first goal for the country. While performing extraordinarily well for his club and also the country, Didier Drogba was eyed by the French team Olympique de Marseille in 2003. He was transferred to the French side for 3.3 million pounds, and it was expected that his goal-scoring form would continue in the French team. The African-player scored third highest goals in Ligue 1, as he found the net 19 times and helped his team reach the 2004 UEFA Cup Final.
The next season, the English club Chelsea was taken over by the “special” coach Jose Mourinho. Mourinho is still famous for recruiting amazing talent from other teams, and the Portuguese manager lived up to his reputation as he signed Didier Drogba from Olympique de Marseille. The deal was struck and the African player arrived in England for the medical examining, as Chelsea paid 24 million pounds for the striker. With this price tag, Didier Drogba became the most expensive player in the history of his country, Cote d’Ivoire. With the help of the Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, Chelsea managed to win the 2005 Football League Cup Final and the 2005 FA Community Shield. However, it was the African striker who scored the decisive goals in both the triumphs. In the same year, Drogba was a vital goal scorer as Chelsea won the first English Premier League ever. In 2006, he was chosen to be African Footballer of the Year, and in the next season he won the Golden Boot award in the English Premier League. He managed to score 20 goals and also managed to bag another few during the League Cup Final and the FA Cup Finals. He also won the FA Cup Final in the 2009 season, when Chelsea managed to win their first-ever double under the former AC Milan coach, Carlo Anceloti. He is the only player in the history of English football who has managed to score in 6 different English Cup Finals. He also won the Golden Boot award during the 2009-2010 season, scoring 29 goals in the Chelsea’s double winning campaign.
Didier Drogba is not only a great football player but also an amazing human as he has managed to play a vital role in bringing peace to his country. After his country qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2006, he pleaded the combatants to lay down their arms and the plea was respectfully answered as the 5-year civil war in his country finally came to an end.
Didier Drogba also helped the team qualify for the African Cup of Nations and helped his team go through the FIFA World Cup 2010 qualifiers as well. Even though he was injured for the FIFA World Cup 2010, and his team did not qualify for the pre quarter finals; it was Didier Drogba who found the net with an injured arm.
The French passport-holder has managed to find the net 45 times in only 71 appearances that he has made for his national team, Cote d'Ivoire.
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