If you’ve ever wondered what drove Didier Drogba to do what he’s done … then here’s your chance to find out!
Ark your head and attention away from this article for a brief moment and cast your mind back to the career of Didier Drogba. Now, I want you to think of what immediately came to mind as a nostalgic summary of his career. Almost certainly, you’ll think about his time at Chelsea – and how pivotal he became to their overall success throughout their most successful period to date under Jose Mourinho. In fact, I sometimes wonder what life would have been like for the Portuguese if he wasn’t able to rely on him!
At the heart of it all, Didier Drogba became known as the perennial ‘big-game player; the man you could always rely on to pop up in the big moments when they mattered most, and putting things right where things went wrong. In fact, we ourselves at Ultra United have used some of our screen time on this very site to wax lyrical about this very ability that Didier seemed to possess. But then you think about it, what kind of emotions / characteristics do you think one must possess in order to be as consistent as he was on the big stage?
Daring? Probably. Confident? Most certainly. But above all else, you need to have an undying level of humility about you. I believe this is a particular attribute to have in this instance purely because you have to have a sense of mindfulness when presented with a difficult situation in order to overcome it. If you’re overconfident, the game might pass you by, and being too daring in a scenario which doesn’t need it can lead to unexpected results. But if you relax, take everything in, process your thoughts and keep things as simple as you dare maintain. Things can only go up from there. This is what Didier Drogba had – and it was something that stuck with him since birth.
Growing up in the Western side of the impoverished Ivory Coast, Didier Drogba was given license to spread his wings a little wider than usual when offered the opportunity to live with his relatives in France. It just so happened that his uncle (and new housemate) were both professional football players in Ligue Deux (Ligue 2) in the country. As such, regular garden matches were played with Didier at the heart of it all – soaking up as much knowledge as he could from them, whilst also realising that it was going to take a lot of hard work to surpass even their achievements.
From that point on, Drogba was a straight as an arrow when it came to assessing his career. He knew that he was going to have to work hard, ride his luck and trust in his faith that things would go well if he acted properly. Not only this, but he recognised that this was a fruitful avenue with which to prise his remaining family out of the area from which he was able to break free. Now, cast your mind back at what you know about his career, and you will see that he was able to achieve things beyond even his wildest imagination in the game that he dedicated himself to.
While reading this book, you’ll understand that it really wasn’t an easy road for Didier Drogba in the road of professional football, and he actually considered cutting his career short long before it even had a chance to take off. But thankfully, he didn’t. Instead, he went on to become one of Chelsea’s most beloved footballers ever, and still garners some positive affection from their demanding fan-base to date. He even has a foundation to help out the impoverished neighbourhoods of the Ivory Coast – outweighing even the government’s influx into such initiatives over the past decade. Class.