THE PREM ERA 63DIDIER DROGBA
A
proven marksman
with Brest, Angouleme,
Dunkerque, Besancon and
Abbeville in the French
second division for much of the1980s,
and an Ivory Coast international on 30
occasions, Michel Goba was by no
means a shabby player.
His greatest achievement in the
game, however, is surely the part
that he has played in the upbringing
and football education of a nephew
who spent a large proportion of his
formative years under his uncle’s roof.
Influenced by economic malaise
in the Ivory Coast and the conviction
that France offered more in the way
of prospects, Didier Drogba’s parents,
Albert (a bank employee) and Clotilde
(a tax office worker), twice packed their
son off for lengthy sojourns with his
uncle Michel. The boy was just five when
he first left home and certainly had his
problems adjusting to a new life far from
the family cocoon in the Yopougon
district of the capital Abidjan. But his
“Chez Goba” period undeniably helped
shape his destiny and laid the building
blocks for what has turned out to be
a stunning career on the world stage.
Having a footballer for a legal
guardian not only sparked Drogba’s
love of the game but also a burning
desire to emulate his father figure.
With Goba there to advise and correct,
he had the ideal mentor and, without
realising it at the time, every day was a
lesson in how to make it as a professional
sportsman, with a unique insight into all
the job entailed.phrase:“Attackers are the only ones
noticed in this game.”
Drogba dutifully complied and,
consciously or not, his playing style
would soon come to closely resemble
that ofhisuncle.Althoughthe Chelsea
and Ivory Coast striker clearly has the
edge in terms of speed, physical power
and mobility, the pair do share many
similar characteristics, not least their
durability, fighting spirit, strength in
the air and a reliance on instinct.THE RIGHT OPTION
Life is all about the direction taken
at a particular set of crossroads and
Drogba certainly took the right option
in this instance. If he hadn’t switched
to the front line, he may well not
have developed into a 21st-century
phenomenon, won a treasure chest of
trophies in seven-and-a-half seasons
with Chelsea, plus two African
Footballer of the Year awards (in
2006 and 2009), or earned wall-
to-wall praise for the way he has
helped transform the Ivory Coast
into an international force.
Despite the knowledge bequeathed
to him by his uncle, Drogba’s path to the
top of his chosen profession would still
be a long and rocky one. He had to wait
until the relatively advanced age of 23
to finally have a shot in the French top
flight, with Guingamp in Brittany, and
before that all-important breakthrough
there were several setbacks to endure.Srebrenko Repcic confidently predicting
bountiful tomorrows for him – and the
galling, which featured repeated injuries
and little first-team recognition.
However, convinced of his potential,
second division LeMansappeared on
the scene in1997 to offer Drogba, who
was by now 21, a contract. Yet once
again his luck would be out. In his
three-and-a-half seasons in the first
team he scored just15 goals and,
frustrated by his repeated spells on
the treatment table and an alleged
love of nightlife, the management
lost patience with him.
“His behaviour wasn’t as professional
as it should have been,” recalls Le Mans
recruitment chief Alain Pascalou. “The
thought that he was wasting his talent
used to drive me crazy. In spite of all
his silliness, his ability was plain to see.”TURNING POINT
Agent and close friend Thierno Seydi
claims Drogba was close to quitting the
professional game at Le Mans and that
he needed a lot of persuading to keep
going. But persist he did, and inJanuary
2002 his move to Guingamp proved to
be a turning point.
It is fair to say coach Guy Lacombe
was the only figure at the club who
thought it a good idea to bring in a
back-up striker from the second tier, but
there was something about Drogba that
he liked. At long last, feeling that he had
a boss who trusted and understood him,
the Ivorian suddenly began to flourish,
and he forged a wonderful attacking
partnership with future France winger
and later Chelsea team-mate Florent
Malouda, who remains his best friend
in the game, and he scored17 goals
in the 2002-03 Ligue1 season.Didier Drogba
Words:Nick BidwellTHE PREM ERA 63