Amongst fans in England, of any club other than Chelsea, Didier Drogba may be admired, but he is far from universally liked. Occasionally portraying an arrogant persona, his style of play has attracted criticism, and certain outbursts such as that Champions League night against Barcelona have brought bad press. His talent cannot be denied, 221 goals in a only 369 appearances is a superb record, but it’s in his native country where his true value and worth is known.
As Drogba stepped off the plane back into the Ivory Coast early this week, he arrived as a captain of the national team who had not only missed a penalty in the 2006 final shoot-out, but again in this year’s final. Could he expect a less than warm welcome? But thousands gathered to welcome their side home, runners up in the tournament, and regardless of the shock final defeat to Zambia, they cheered their heroes.
Drogba himself commented that he felt ‘rich with these kinds of experiences’ and this example serves to show just what he means to these people in the Ivory Coast. He is idolized here, and the work he has done to his fellow countrymen shows just why. Perhaps, when receiving bad press for being ‘temperamental’ or ‘moody’ in England, he could be forgiven for feeling hard done by.
After last year’s riots in the political capital, Abidjan, almost 3’000 people lost their lives. Further back in 2009, poor construction led to a wall collapsing in a game against Malawi (Drogba was playing) and 19 more lives were lost. It is such events which mean that most of the other players for the national team don’t even own houses in the country, and don’t return unless play home matches. Yet, Drogba is different. He still makes appearances in his hometown whenever he can, often spending the summer break back with family in the Ivory Coast.
This creates a link to the people, offering them support in troubled times, something which can’t be overlooked in such climates for the inhabitants of the country. Drogba’s desire to remain together with his place of birth goes further, however. Every penny he earns from commercial activities, such as advertisements with Pepsi or Samsung, goes to the Didier Drogba Foundation, an establishment that he set up in order to create better health care for a country that has a male life expectancy staggeringly low at 47. To date, Drogba has given over 3 million pounds to his foundation. A state of the art hospital is about to be built using this money, something which the towering 6ft 3 forward says he is ‘excited’ about. In an age when footballers large wages are criticised, this simply cannot go without recognition.
A final way in which Drogba’s influence is shown would be in his hometown, Drogbakro Village. Every game Drogba plays for Chelsea, a local worker wheels his own television out into the street and several hundreds gather to cheer on their finest export. Every touch is greeted with tumultuous applause, and as for his FA Cup winning goal, coming in extra-time, in 2007, you can imagine the roar.
Maybe it is this quote, from local Kouassi Augustin, is the biggest marker for just what Drogba means. ‘We do not need an election to give us an answer to this question. He is already bigger than the President, he is the Ivory Coast.’ So while his on field antics do sometimes bring criticism, it would be a dis-service to tarnish his reputation with stereotypical modern footballer comments. To these people, Drogba isn’t just a good footballer; he’s so much more. His immeasurable contribution to his country is something that everybody can applaud, not just fans of Drogba, or football in general. Mind you, he’s not a bad player either by all accounts.
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