18 Things You Didn’t Know About Didier Drogba

Ivorian football star Didier Drogba is well known for his prolific scoring as a forward for Chelsea,
as well as for being captain of the Côte d’Ivoire national team for the last decade. Drogba has the distinction of being highest goal-scorer of any foreign player in the Premier League, and was even voted the best Chelsea player by supporters of the club in 2012. Here are 18 things you didn’t know about Didier Drogba.

1. His mother nicknamed him ‘Tito’
Drogba’s mother, Name, nicknamed him “Tito” after President Broz Tito of Yugoslavia, whom she greatly admired.

2. He was sent to live with his uncle in France at a young age
At age 5, Drogba was sent to live with his professional footballer uncle, Michel Goba, in France. He returned to his family in Abidjan three years later after becoming homesick, but moved back to France after both his parents lost their jobs as bank workers.

3. He was reunited with his parents in 1993 after they moved to France
Drogba’s parents moved to Antony, a suburb of Paris, in 1993. He moved back in with them and his siblings, and began playing football on a more frequent basis.

4. He played for Le Mans for four years
From 1998-2002, Drogba played in the second division of the French football club Le Mans. The
four years were fraught with injury, but it was also his first professional contract, and a rung on
the ladder to higher prospects.

5. He played for Le Mans for four years . From 1998-2002, Drogba played in the second division of the French football club Le Mans. The four years were fraught with injury, but it was also his first professional contract, and a rung on
the ladder to higher prospects.

6. His next big breaks

After Le Mans, Didier transferred to Ligue 1 soccer club Guingamp, and his record goals attracted Marseille, who bought him for £3.3 million pounds. During his year of playing for Marseille, he scored 19 goals and won the National Union of Professional Footballers Player of the Year Award.

7. He’s the most expensive Ivorian player in history

In the summer of 2004, Drogba signed a contract with Chelsea for $40 million. He turned out to be
worth it, though, as he helped the club win its first league title in 50 years.

8. He is Chelsea’s greatest player,
according to many

In 2012, a poll of 20,000 fans administered by the Chelsea club’s official magazine named Didier Drogba the team’s greatest player ever.

9. Both his brothers are footballers
Drogba’s two younger brothers, Joël and Freddy Drogba, are also footballers. Freddy plays for the
French Ligue Youth 1 side Dijon.

10. Drogba was the first African player to score 100 premier league goals

In March 2012, he scored his 100th premier league goal in a victory over Stoke City, becoming the 22nd player ever, and the first
African, to do so.

11. He was also the first player to be sent off in a European Cup final for violent conduct

In the 117th minute of the 2008 Champions League final, Drogba slapped Manchester United
defender Nemanja Vidic. Chelsea went on to lose the game in penalties after Capt. John Terry took
Drogba’s place in the shootout and missed.

12. He left Chelsea for Shanghai Shenhua

In the summer of 2012, Drogba officially left Chelsea to play for the Chinese Super League Shanghai Shenhua, playing for reportedly £200,000 a week. He played on the field until the end of the year.

13. He played for Galatasaray

In January of 2013, Drogba signed on with Turkey’s Galatasaray Süper Lig for a one-and-a- half year contract. His earnings were steep: €15,000 per match, with a sign-on fee of €4 million and €4 million per season.

14. The triumphant Chelsea return

Just this month (July of 2014), Didier proclaimed his return to Chelsea by signing a one-year contract.

He stated: “Everyone knows the special relationship I have with this club and it has always felt like home to me.” (Wikipedia).

He will resume with the number 15 on his shirt, which he sported in 2004 when he first started playing for the club.

15.  He has a nice family

Didier married Diakite Lalla, his long-time partner, on June 11, 2011 in a private ceremony in Monaco, well-attended by club owner Roman
Abramovich and some say Akon. The pair have three sons together.

16. Drogba used his position to help the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire

After Côte d’Ivoire qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Drogba made a public plea to armed combatants in his country to lay down arms
during the tail end of the civil war.

17. Drogba was appointed a goodwill ambassador for the UN in 2007

Due to his charity work and involvement in the peace process in Côte d’Ivoire, the U.N. Development Program named Drogba goodwill ambassador to bring more attention to issues in West Africa, and to support the millennium development goals across the world.

18. The Didier Drogba Foundation’s first initiative was to build a hospital in Abidjan Drogba decided on the foundation’s initial direction after visiting hospitals in his home town. ”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.”

Source Afkinsider