Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has added his voice to the anti-racism cause by featuring on a new rap CD. A knee injury may have sidelined him, but Drogba is currently gearing up to hit the right note for charity at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday. And he also teamed up with fellow Blues ace Michael Essien to provide the vocals for the single 'Wink', by Wills and the Willing. The track is due to be released in October to coincide with Kick Racism Out of Football week. And Drogba said: "Racism is something very difficult to live with. "You think it's improving but every time there's some idiot who doesn't really know what they're talking about. "It's our decision to fight against this. For me, there's no difference between black and white. "I wanted to do this song because I really love the lyrics. It's very simple but they can touch your heart." Ian Wills, lead singer of Wills and the Willing, said: "Chelsea adopted one of my early singles 'It's Easy' as a track they liked to play at the interval during home games — creating an awareness of the band amongst the football world. "I was fortunate enough to be able to invite Michael and Didier to contribute to this important cause and they very kindly accepted." Wills, who will be performing the track with Drogba on Sunday, added: "It's not a football song but it has a very important message. "And having two of the best footballers in the world on the track means the message will reach a little further. "The achievement of kicking racism not just out of football but also out of society in general is something that is long overdue." All the proceeds are going to Chelsea's official charity partner CLIC Sargent. SOURCE: The Sun
I'll no longer play through pain - Drogba
Chelsea star Didier Drogba has warned he will refuse to play through the pain barrier as he looks to shake off a troublesome knee injury. Drogba missed Saturday's goalless draw with Blackburn with the injury and he is a major doubt for next week's UEFA Champions League opener against Rosenborg. Last season's top scorer says he has been struggling with the injury since pre-season and that it flared up again in the defeat at Aston Villa a fortnight ago. Chelsea are keen to have Drogba available again, but the Ivory Coast ace is refusing to be rushed as he wants to be fully fit before returning to action. Pain "For a month I've trained with pain in my right knee," Drogba told French magazine Sport. "Sadly I have not been able to get rid of this discomfort. I've played four Premier League matches in this state and it is unbearable. "Now the pain is so great that my presence next Tuesday for the game with Rosenborg in the Champions League is in doubt. "All will depend on the evolution of this injury, for I do not want to set it off again. "I want this problem to be definitely fixed." The former Marseille star is disappointed to be missing the start of the Champions League and he has set his sights on returning for the trip to Valencia on 3rd October. Unpleasant "The European Cup is a competition that makes me dream. It irritates me not to be there," continued Drogba. "The physios are getting to know me in a new light. In this kind of state, I am frankly unpleasant. "If I do miss Rosenborg, I hope to return for the trip to Valencia." SOURCE: skysports.com
Future bright at the Emirates – Kolo Toure
Arsenal's players have long since finished training but there is still no sign of Kolo Toure in the media area. Even the notoriously tardy manager, Arsene Wenger, has completed his round of TV, radio and newspaper interviews when the penny drops. It being Friday, Toure has nipped out to the local mosque; prayers before press. For a man of Toure's deeply religious convictions, faith is an essential part of everything he does, not just when he is on his knees facing Mecca. He has faith in his Arsenal team-mates, faith in Wenger, faith even that the current takeover distraction engulfing the club will make them stronger. After an encouraging start to the season at the Emirates Stadium, he also has faith in his team's ability to make it a fortress against the infidels who question Arsenal's commitment and ability to challenge for honours. Arsenal have been accused of lacking the moral fibre to cope in the Premier League's more inhospitable northern outposts, unable to hack the hacking, so to speak, in places like Bolton and Blackburn. In truth, any hopes of making a title challenge last season disappeared in the first five games on the plush new grass of their sumptuous new stadium, three of which ended in draws. And ironically, last season, they posted a 2-0 league win at Blackburn and a 3-1 FA Cup triumph at Bolton. Now Toure hopes that three wins out of three at the Emirates, following two in the pre-season tournament there, has added metaphorical turrets and a moat to the architectural design. He says: "It was a big mental thing for us, playing at the new stadium and we have had to learn to play there. At Highbury, with three or four passes, you could get from one goal to the other but at the Emirates, on a bigger pitch, we have learned that you have to be more collected, more patient and more clever. You cannot always look for the killer pass, you have to draw teams out." For a man who describes himself as "coming a long way back in Africa", Highbury was a pretty forbidden foreign clime when he arrived as a 20-year-old in a wet and windy February of 2002. Initially, it was only for a two-week trial but Wenger was so amused by a player with the nerve to kick Tony Adams and Martin Keown in training that he paid £150,000 for him to the Ivory Coast's ASEC Abidjan, if only for the fun he would give the other players. Sadly he was injured almost as soon as he had put down the pen after signing and was ruled out for six months. He says: "Everyone was asking, 'How can the boss sign a player like that? He comes from Africa, we don't even know where he played before and now he is injured after two weeks.' But all the players and everyone else at the club gave me fantastic support. They knew I had a good spirit, knew I wanted to make it and they took me in, like a child, like a brother. When that happens, you think - 'this is my home' and when I got better, Mr Wenger gave me my chance and I took it. You can't say anything bad about a man like that." Similarly, you would have to move to the cockerel side of north London to find anyone with a bad word to say about Toure, who is now the longest- serving member of Arsenal's young team, having arrived shortly before Brazilian Gilberto. Two shock exits from Arsenal in the past few months, vice-chairman David Dein followed by captain Thierry Henry, might have upset the dressing room as they fuelled rumours that Wenger would soon follow suit and see the club's era of success turn into irreversible decline. Dein, of course, has now sold his shares to a Russian oligarch amid feverish speculation that he will return as Arsenal's chairman. Toure says: "Mr Dein was a fantastic man and when you are used to seeing people, you always miss them. But that is life and you just focus on playing. Losing Titi [Henry] was a shock because you always think that it is difficult for the captain to leave. But we have good players coming in like Adebayor, Van Persie and Eduardo. People say that Titi did too much but I think that is normal when you are his type of player. That was his character, he wanted to be the best and always gave 100 per cent, even in training." Did Toure and his team-mates discuss the possibility of Wenger making it a trilogy of walk-outs and how they would react if he did? "No", says Toure, "In football, you never know what you will do until something happens. When it happens, you think then, but now, everything is fine, the boss is here and we're winning games." Having won the Premier League or the FA Cup in each of his first three seasons, Toure has found the past two years painfully frustrating. "It's hard for me," he said, "because I am a winner. Even back in Africa I was used to winning trophies every season. I have that spirit in my blood. But now the young players and the old players at Arsenal, we all work well together and you can see the big solidarity between us." Defeat to Barcelona in the 2006 Champions League final is still a festering sore. Toure points to the sending-off of goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, the injury to Robert Pires, the disallowed Barca equaliser. "We were very unlucky but what can we do? It would be a dream, of course, to play against Barca and Titi in the final this season. The spirit and belief is there in this team that we can do it." There's that word belief again. And if a little faith goes a long way, Toure's could surely take him to infinity and back. SOURCE: Telegraph
Prolific Drogba sets pace for Golden Shoe
Didier Drogba is the new leader of the ESM Golden Shoe standings after scoring twice as Chelsea FC defeated Middlesbrough FC on a weekend which also saw Ronaldinho make a significant move.
Terrific form Ivorian Drogba, 28, continued his terrific season at Stamford Bridge by taking his tally to 17 Premiership goals with Chelsea's opening and closing goals in a 3-0 success against Boro. Cristiano Ronaldo is Drogba's closest challenger in England on 15 goals, the same mark as Ronaldinho who struck both of FC Barcelona's goals in last night's victory against Real Racing Club Santander.
Four for Savidan The three players between the Iberian duo and Drogba - Afonso Alves, Frédéric Kanouté and Maksim Gruznov - remain unchanged, although French forward Steve Savidan does not after climbing 43 places to 13th following his four goals in Valenciennes FC's 5-2 win at FC Nantes Atlantique.
Pos.
Name
Club (Country)
Gls
Val
Pts
1
Didier Drogba
Chelsea FC (ENG)
17
2
34
2
Afonso Alves
SC Heerenveen (NED)
22
1.5
33
3
Frédéric Kanouté
Sevilla FC (ESP)
16
2
32
4
Maksim Gruznov*
JK Trans Narva (EST)
31
1
31
5
Ronaldinho
FC Barcelona (ESP)
15
2
30
5
Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United FC (ENG)
15
2
30
7
Daniel Nannskog*
Stabæk IF (NOR)
19
1.5
28.5
8
Francesco Totti
AS Roma (ITA)
14
2
28
8
Diego Milito
Real Zaragoza (ESP)
14
2
28
10
Roman Pavlyuchenko*
FC Spartak Moskva (RUS)
18
1.5
27
10
Veigar Páll Gunnarsson*
Stabæk IF (NOR)
18
1.5
27
10
Dmitri Lipartov*
JK Trans Narva (EST)
27
1
27
13
Steve Savidan
Valenciennes FC (FRA)
13
2
26
14
Danny Koevermans
SC Heerenveen (HOL)
17
1.5
25.5
14
Steffen Iversen*
Rosenborg BK (NOR)
17
1.5
25.5
14
Blaise N'Kufo
FC Twente (NED)
17
1.5
25.5
17
Vjatšeslav Zahovaiko*
FC Flora (EST)
25
1
25
17
Aram Hakobyan*
FC Banants (ARM)
25
1
25
19
Rolando Bianchi
Reggina Calcio (ITA)
12
2
24
19
Alexander Zickler
FC Salzburg (AUT)
16
1.5
24
19
Mario Gomez
VfB Stuttgart (GER)
12
2
24
19
Patrick Ogunsoto
KVC Westerlo(BEL)
16
1.5
24
*Season finished
A player cannot first play in a summer league (eg. Norway) and then in a winter league (eg. Spain) and combine the points total for each season.
Figures from Voetbal International
SOURCE: UEFA.com
Kalou ends exile, in Ivory Coast win
Ivorians have given a cautious welcome to their newest and perhaps most controversial international, Salomon Kalou. Kalou had rejected a number of call-ups to the national team, the Elephants, before finally making his debut in a 1-0 win over Guinea on Tuesday. Chelsea striker Didier Drogba scored the only goal of the game. Kalou had attempted to play for his country of adoption, Holland, but his fast-track naturalization demand was rejected by the Dutch political authorities. Yet despite this apparent attempt to turn his back on the land of his birth, many Ivorians seemed happy that the striker, who plays for English premier side Chelsea, was now an Ivorian international. "It is a very good thing," one supporter, Ouegnin, said. "I am not angry he turned us down before. "The President of the Ivorian football federation said the door is open to everyone, so Kalou can play for us." Another fan, Aubin, said he felt Kalou had learnt from his mistakes. "He is still very young, and I think that is why he turned us down before. "He has matured now, which is why he has changed his mind, and I am sure he will help the team." Ivory Coast have many good attackers starting with Kalou's Chelsea team mate Didier Drogba and including Lens' Aruna Dindane and PSV's Arouna Kone but Aubin thinks he knows how Kalou can help the team. "He is very good with the ball at his feet, and we do not have many players who can play out wide," he explained. Kalou is less well known in Ivory Coast than his older brother, Bonaventure Kalou, a former national team captain. The pair's mother, Helene Tra Lou Kalou, could scarcely hide her delight at her son's decision to play for Ivory Coast. "I am very, very, very happy," she told BBC Sport. "There is a proverb we have: one does not show the road to one's village with the left hand!" The proverb indicated pride in her son's return home to Ivory Coast. Mrs. Kalou had been criticized by Ivorian fans after her son attempted to play for Holland. Now she has no fear of that! SOURCE: BBC Sport
Drogba nears Hungary switch
Didier Drogba's nephew Severin is close to joining Kaposvolgye, according to reports in Hungary.The 20-year-old is currently in Hungary searching for a club and has already undertaken a trial with Pecs. Pecs coach Ferenc Keszei was complimentary regarding Drogba's trial, but felt he was some way off making a first-team contribution. "Drogba's a very powerful striker who has potential, but it takes some time before a player is ready for the first division," Keszei. However, Drogba has not been deterred in his quest and is now with Kaposvolgye hoping to win a deal with the second division side. SOURCE: skysports.com
Didier Drogba – Present, Past, Future
Didier Drogba has spent most of his life on the move. The longest he has lived continuously in one place is five years, and those were the first five years of his life in the country of his birth, Ivory Coast. Since then, he has moved 14 more times. He can remember them all, but none as vividly as the first: when, in 1983, he was sent to live with an uncle in France. Michel Goba, who was a professional footballer, persuaded Drogba's parents that the move would 'give Didier a chance in life'. So Drogba left behind a country where life expectancy in the 21st century is 30 years lower than it is in Britain, where nearly half the population is illiterate, there is constant fighting, extreme poverty and as many people with Aids as there are over-65s. But he knew then only that he was leaving behind his family. He was distraught. Drogba's parents could not afford to fly with him from Abidjan, Ivory Coast's capital, to Paris Charles de Gaulle. 'I can remember it very clearly,' Drogba says, thinking back to that sad, sunny day as he looks outside at the rain soaking the pitches at Chelsea's training centre in Surrey. 'I had to travel alone, I was only five. I remember having this thing hanging around my neck, a label saying what my name was, and the stewardess looking after me. It was very, very difficult.' He looks and sounds so intense that there is no doubting the strength of his emotions. He can still feel it nearly 24 years later. 'When I arrived in France, I cried every day. Not because I was in France - I could have been anywhere - but because I was so far, far away from my parents. I missed them so much.' It was three long years before he saw them again. He returned, homesick, to live in Abidjan, playing football every day in a car park. Three years on, he was on the move again, aged 11. Both his parents were bank workers and both lost their jobs in an economic crash. Since then Drogba has moved around France and ended up in England, where his performances as a goalscorer and all-round hero for Chelsea this season make him one of the favourites to be named Footballer of the Year. If he wins the award he would be the first non-European recipient of a title first won by Stanley Matthews, in 1948. That would cap a remarkable five years in which Drogba became France's Footballer of the Year; scored the goals that took Olympique de Marseille, the team of his boyhood dreams, to the Uefa Cup final in 2004; signed for Chelsea for pounds 24m that July and, a year later, helped them to their first title since 1955; and, perhaps best of all, for him, his goals gave his troubled country the chance to fly their flag at the World Cup finals for the first time. The youth of Ivory Coast love Drogba. Every time he returns to Abidjan airport now, he is swamped by media and fans, top of the television news, feted wherever he goes. Drogbacite - or Drogbaness, in English - is a cultural phenomenon in music and dance that shows no signs of disappearing, even though the Elephants, the national team, did not get past the first round in Germany 2006. 'Drogbacite? It's all about me, about my success of the last four years [since his international debut],' he says. 'There is a special relationship between football and music, and Drogbacite comes from that. It's still popular. Me, I need my music, especially before a game. I use it at Chelsea to prepare in the dressing room.' You can listen to the Drogbacite club hits on a compilation CD and to Drogba himself at the microphone on another disc. Before the World Cup, the Ivory Coast squad made a recording with Magic System, a local band, and both Drogba and the Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboue showed that they can sing as well as play football. 'Yes, it's true I can sing,' says Drogba. 'But it's not what I do best.' He does it well enough, though, and had the confidence to give a solo performance to the Ivory Coast President, Laurent Gbagbo, at a pre World Cup reception in Abidjan. There is no exaggerating Drogba's fame in Ivory Coast. A few indicators: the popular one-litre bottle of Bock beer is big and strong, so is now known as a Drogba; a street in Abidjan has been renamed Rue Didier Drogba; an interview with Drogba in the local Stades d'Afriques newspaper led to a circulation increase of 87 per cent; and the most popular overseas club in Ivory Coast, which for years was Marseille, is now Chelsea - by a long way. 'Ask them in the Chelsea store,' says Drogba, 'and they'll tell you I am the one who buys all the shirts! When I go to Ivory Coast I always have to take so many, for my family and friends.' Adam Khalil, who did that sales-busting interview with Drogba for Stades d'Afriques , says: 'He is a key personality in the life of Ivorians, young Ivorians above all. He is a symbol of success in life, the first Ivorian pro footballer who has been talked of like this. There is so much publicity around him and his performances that influences the life of young people. There are songs in which they sing his name. The way he dresses - the young copy it. The cut off T-shirts, the gelled hair. He is an example of social success. He came from nowhere and, with determination, succeeded.' Just about every young Ivorian wants to be Didier Drogba, and if that is too much to ask, at least he wants to dance like Didier Drogba, who celebrated every goal he scored for Marseille four seasons ago with a dance. So Drogbacite is their way of taking on his personality, most expressively by copying his football skills, his feints and shots, in dance moves. Oh yes, say the thousands of fans who cannot stand Drogba, the fans who make up songs about the 'conniving diver' who plays for the despised Chelsea. So, there must be thousands of young clubbers throwing themselves to the ground, falling over every time another dancer comes near, and writhing around on the dancefloor. What do you say to those fans, Didier? 'I say they are not fair. In France there was a saying, I don't know if it's the same here, "Before looking at the others, look in your own team". I'm not especially a diver. Why accuse me?' Last March Bryan Robson, then manager of West Bromwich Albion, was accuser-in-chief, saying: 'Drogba just dives all the time. He dives and feigns injury.' In the same month, after Chelsea's 2-0 win over Manchester City, Drogba told the BBC: 'Sometimes I dive, sometimes I stand.' He then withdrew the statement, blaming his poor English, and said: 'No, I don't dive.' Earlier this season he spoke of how 'defenders enjoy kicking me, but I have moved on and I try to accept the assault now without falling down. I wasn't used to the English style at first and I didn't use my arms to protect myself. I played exactly as I had in France. Part of the problem is that challenges that are penalised in France are OK here.' Now he tries to explain further. First, he emphasises that the differences between English and French football also apply when Chelsea play in Europe. 'In the Champions League the referees, even the English referees, have to whistle differently than they do in England. Some contact you cannot do in the Champions League. You need to adapt to this. 'And people here say, "He's diving, he's diving, he's diving", but when you're running with the ball and someone's coming at you like he wants to ...' - Drogba smacks his right fist into his left palm, loudly - 'to hit you or something, well, you are scared, you are a human being.' He pauses. 'I don't know how to explain it, that's part of the problem.' Are you saying that you must take evasive action to avoid injury? 'It depends. It depends on the way he's coming at you. Of course, people think, "He's big, he's strong, he shouldn't fall over". People think footballers are all like robots, we can control everything on the pitch. But your heart is beating 200 times a minute, it's very, very physical. 'You need to have a football career to understand what we are feeling in a game, why we are doing this, doing that. You need to be a player to understand. I tell you, people making judgments, sitting at home on the sofa, they are in another world.' Since that first flight, as he followed his uncle the journeyman pro and then his own career, Drogba has lived in Brest, Angouleme, Dunkirk, Abidjan, Dunkirk again, Abbeville, Tourcoing, Vannes, Poitiers, the Paris suburbs, Le Mans and Guingamp. In 1991, he was reunited with his family when his parents and six older brothers and sisters all moved from Abidjan to France. In 1999, there was a military coup in Ivory Coast as well as a big change in Drogba's life. He and his wife, Alla, a Malian whom he met in Paris, started their own family. 'Isaac's birth was a turning point in my life, it straightened me out,' he has said of his eldest son. Drogba now has three children and does not want them to move as often as he did. Surprisingly, given his French connections, he is keen to stay in England when his playing days are finished. He wants to settle and he can think of nowhere better. 'When I like a place, I don't want to move. My children enjoy it, it's good for them to live here. Maybe I'll stay.' He has a specific task, too. Isaac wears an Arsenal shirt because Thierry Henry is his favourite player. Drogba has promised to become the new goalscoring superstar not just of the Premiership, but of his own family. Asked for his best non-football memory from his time in England, he thinks hard about it, taking a long look at the ceiling. 'Waking up every day and seeing my kids speak English,' he says. 'They speak it better than me.' Which must be very well indeed. Drogba has been taking lessons 'to develop my vocabulary' and it has helped to remove 'a wall between me and my mates' that was there when he arrived. He enjoys saying the word 'mates', which brings a little smile to his lips. 'The English you learn at school is completely different.' He has felt settled before, however, and knows that 'in football, anything can happen'. Before coming to Chelsea, Drogba thought he would see out his playing days at Marseille. 'Oh, how I loved it there,' he says. 'I remember watching on television when Basile Boli, who was from Ivory Coast but played for the French national team, scored the winner when they won the Champions League in 1993. I already followed them and now I really fell in love with that club. When I signed for them everything was perfect for me. The weather, the city ... perfect. I thought I would spend the rest of my days there.' Drogba scored 18 in 35 games in his one-season stay, including the goals that knocked out Liverpool and Newcastle as Marseille made it to the Uefa Cup final. But neither he nor his club could say no to Chelsea's offer of pounds 24m in the summer of 2004. The first club to pay a fee for Drogba did so because of an injury to Stephane Guivarc'h, the forward who played for France in the 1998 World Cup final. Guingamp, a small-town Breton team who were in the first division, took a gamble on a player who was spending a lot of time on the substitutes' bench at Le Mans, a division below. They paid pounds 80,000 for him in January 2002. The man who saw something that others missed was Guy Lacombe, the Guingamp coach. Did Drogba himself see that potential? 'All I can say is I felt better, played better, against good teams. I found it difficult to express myself in the second division, there was a lot of physical contact. Whenever I played against a first-division team I felt better. The game was more thoughtful, more positional. It's strange, I know, but I preferred to play the stronger teams.' Is it the same now? 'Yes. The Champions League, those are the games I love. You have to think. You make one mistake and, not always but usually, there is a consequence: a goal. Both teams are so experienced, the games are very close. You need a bit of luck. I learned a lot about how to play in these games in my first year at Chelsea. That was not my best season, but it was my most intelligent season.' For all his success, Drogba has also had enough bad luck for one career. He was a junior at Levallois, his first club, and took his chance aged 18 when he came on for the last 10 minutes of a second-division game. He scored but his coach was unimpressed. Drogba then broke a foot when he tripped over a sprinkler, and later broke a metatarsal, a fibula and an ankle. His career kept stalling and he was 21 before he signed his first professional contract, at Le Mans. At Guingamp he scored on his debut and helped his club to stay up. The following July, Drogba made an explosive start to the new season with an injury-time equaliser against Lyon. He scored 17 goals in 34 games and Marseille paid pounds 3.3m for him. In the same year, 2003, Drogba made his debut for the Elephants against South Africa. He had, as uncle Michel had predicted all those years ago, made something of his life, while back home in Ivory Coast the country was in turmoil, trying to recover from another failed coup. There was more to come: not just the move to Chelsea, but the goals that helped Ivory Coast to eliminate Cameroon in winning their World Cup qualifying group. On hearing that Ivory Coast had made it after their victory in Sudan and Cameroon's surprise home draw with Egypt, Drogba dropped down on one knee in the dressing room, persuaded the other players to join him, and begged Ivorians to forgive one another and work for peace. 'There is more to Africa than war and fighting,' he says. 'Players like Essien, Diouf, Kanu, Eto'o in Spain, and me - we have a big responsibility because everybody in Africa believes in football.' Will there be a Didier Drogba: My Life 'Yeah, I've thought about a book,' he says. 'I have a lot of things to say. From Ivory Coast to England I've had a lot of experiences - why not? But I'm not sure I would do it now. Maybe later, when I've finished playing.' And the post-playing career? 'I've been thinking about that. I don't want to wait until I'm 34 before I start wondering about my future. If I decide I want to be a coach my wife wouldn't like it, but it's an idea I like.' What of the current coach? Late last season, Drogba was thinking of leaving Chelsea, believing that some of the fans had turned against him. Jose Mourinho persuaded him to stay. 'I have a very good relationship with him. I know he believes in me and that's important. You need your manager to believe in you when you are not scoring, when you are having a difficult time. Now I will stay here. There's no point leaving. 'I was quoted recently as saying I was playing the best in my life, but that's not what I said. I said I was in my best form for Chelsea. I can do more. There is better to come.' Has Drogba learned more from Mourinho than any other coach? 'Coaches can teach you two things: confidence, and technique. With other managers I learned more about technique, about self-control in front of goal, particularly from Guy Lacombe at Guingamp. From Jose I have learned how to win, how to reject defeat.' The man who signed Drogba for Marseille, Alain Perrin - later Portsmouth manager - was sacked soon after Drogba's arrival; and the man who gave him his first contract, Marc Westerloppe, was also dismissed at Le Mans. What if Mourinho makes it a treble? 'Anything can happen,' says Drogba, who has made public his concerns about the dispute between Mourinho and Chelsea's owner, Roman Abramovich. 'There are some tensions at the club and when the bosses and manager are not rowing in the same direction, there are bound to be repercussions,' he said at his inauguration as a United Nations goodwill ambassador in Switzerland 10 days ago. 'Those arguments are having a negative effect on team performances.' He believes the manager will stay, though. 'Everybody is saying that Chelsea are doing badly because we are not top, as we were last year, but nobody is talking about how well Manchester United are playing. They are very, very good.' Drogba is among those who have spoken in support of Mourinho and, like John Terry and Frank Lampard, he wants Abramovich, to know how supportive the team are of the manager. But, he says, nothing will break their team spirit. 'It was strong before, now it is stronger. We are like a family.' And he includes the out-of-form Andriy Shevchenko in that statement. 'Everyone at Chelsea wants Sheva to succeed and I'm sure he will,' he says, pointing out that all foreign players take time to settle in England because of the cultural differences. That, he says, is what has happened to Shevchenko. Drogba is very much a team man, as reflected by his answer to the question, what is your single best memory of your time in English football? He shifts in his chair, in his designer jeans and white shirt, while doing a mental Google of all those goals he has scored, all those victories. The first title for Chelsea in 50 years, maybe? No. 'The Barcelona game at home.' The 1-0 this season or the 4-2 in 2005? 'The 4-2. I wasn't on the pitch, but that was it.' Drogba was suspended and watched from the stands, yet this is his number-one moment. 'We are happy to have a professional like him,' says Mourinho. 'It is important to have players who fight for the team, who work, who attack and defend. He is the kind of player I would tell, "With you I could go to every war".' The coach who 'spotted' Drogba for Le Mans in 1999, Alain Pascalou, says the Ivorian was a tough character even as a teenager. 'If any of the older guys gave him a hard time in the dressing room he'd stand up to them, answer them back. I had to get him out of a few sticky situations - at one point the club were going to sack him, but I convinced them to give him another chance. 'The thing with Didier is he's intelligent. The penny dropped, he realised what he needed to do to make it to the top. He has great willpower. He still comes back to see us and tells the kids here how he was lucky to have patient people around him and says how you have to work at it when you're young if you want to succeed. 'Didier wants to be a leader, wants to be loved. He needs to be lifted by the crowd, to feel the love. That's why he did so well at Marseille, with 60,000 fans screaming their passion at him, and why he took time to give his best at Chelsea. I don't think he felt that love from the crowd at the beginning. He's a showman, elegant, has charisma, class. And he cannot stand mediocrity.' There are many reasons behind Didier Drogba's improved form. The main one, he says, is simply: 'I feel good.' He thumps his heart. 'Really good.' New signings and new tactics have played their part in making him feel that way. 'There is a big difference for me between 4-3-3 [last season] and 4-4-2 [this]. There is more room for me to express myself this season. And those African boys, they have helped.' He is talking about Michael Essien, who has been a huge success; John Mikel Obi, whom Drogba tips to be 'the next great African midfield player, and that means one of the very best in the world'; Geremi, a versatile and important squad player; and Salomon Kalou, a fellow Ivorian who has yet to find his best form at Stamford Bridge. 'We have always had a good team spirit at Chelsea, very strong,' he says. 'For me, now it is even better.' Drogba socialises with the 'African boys' and enjoys a night out at an African club in London once a month with his own team-mates and others, among them Eboue, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, of Arsenal. Back in 1992, the last time Ivory Coast won the African Cup of Nations ('I remember that well, watching on television, our goalkeeper Alain Gouamene was the hero,' says Drogba) English football provided one player for the biennial tournament, the Swansea and Nigeria defender Reuben Agboola. Now there seem to be as many Africans in the top division of English football as there were Scots back then. Almost every club will lose top players next January and February, when the next tournament is held in Ghana. If their teams qualify, Kolo Toure, Eboue, Adebayor and Song will be missing at Arsenal; Diouf, Meite and Faye at Bolton; Kanu, Mwaruwari and LuaLua at Portsmouth; Zokora and Mido at Tottenham; Sissoko at Liverpool; Martins at Newcastle, McCarthy at Blackburn, the list goes on. But none at Manchester United - and no team will lose more quality than Chelsea. Imagine taking Drogba and Essien out of their team now, while United stay as they are. What would that do to team spirit? SOURCE: The Observer
Drogba appeals for Chelsea calm
Didier Drogba admits there is tension at Chelsea as speculation mounts about the future of boss Jose Mourinho and his alleged rift with Roman Abramovich. Mourinho has failed to dampen growing suggestions that he will quit Chelsea at the end of the season, despite being in the hunt for four trophies. And Drogba said: "There are tensions, we cannot prevent them. That's football, it is not easy to live with. "But the players are sticking together. That is the most important thing." Drogba added: "Are we in crisis? In the league we are six points behind Manchester United and still on course for the title. "We've qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League and for the final of the league cup and we are still on course for the FA Cup. Clearly it's a very difficult period." And he insisted he totally supports boss Mourinho saying: "How could I not be behind someone who always supported me, who has helped me win trophies and put Chelsea at the top of English football? "There were good players at Chelsea before his arrival but he brought a culture of winning." SOURCE: BBC Sport
Kalou sends PSG through
A second half goal by Bonaventure Kalou earned holders Paris Saint-Germain FC a 1-0 victory over Ligue 2 side FC Gueugnon and a spot in the last-16 of the French Cup. Le Guen off mark The Ivorian striker netted from close range on 66 minutes after being set up by Uruguayan forward Cristian Rodriguez. The result gave former Rangers FC manager Paul Le Guen his first win as PSG coach, following a goalless draw against Toulouse in Ligue 1 on Wednesday, and set up a meeting with Valeniennes FC in the capital in the next round.
Meriem double The only other tie played on Sunday witnessed AS Monaco FC go through 2-0 at home against ten-man Toulouse FC. The visitors had goalkeeper Nicolas Douchez dismissed in the first half and were on the back-foot from that point with Camel Meriem opening Monaco's account almost immediately before adding a second in the last minute of the game. Lyon target On Saturday, Olympique Lyonnais, who are aiming for a first French Cup title since 1973, earned a hard-fought 3-1 win at amateurs US Laon and will visit Olympique de Marseille next. Marseille progressed against Le Mans UC 72 while LOSC Lille Métropole and RC Lens also earned away victories at Racing Strasbourg and US Orléans respectively. The last-16 of the competition will be played on 30 and 31 January. SOURCE: UEFA.com
Yapo extends Young Boys stay
Ivory Coast midfielder Gilles Yapi Yapo has signed a new contract with Swiss Super League outfit BSC Young Boys. The 24-year-old agreed a three-year extension to his current deal, which will keep him at club until June 2010. Yapo has featured in ten matches for the Swiss side this season. He joined Young Boys from French club Nantes two years ago.
SOURCE: BBC Sport
Drogba's Europe's best striker - Lampard
Frank Lampard has described Chelsea striker Didier Drogba as the best striker in Europe, after his teammate scored a magnificent winning goal against FC Barcelona. 'Different level' The Ivory Coast forward followed an adroit turn with a powerful drive to shatter Barça and give the Premiership side a five-point advantage over their Spanish rivals in UEFA Champions League Group A. "Didier's probably the best striker in Europe now," said Lampard, who had an outstanding game against the holders but was happy to stand aside as Drogba took the uefa.com users' Man of the Match honours. "He's moved it on to a different level this season and is working hard. It was a great goal to win the game." Leading scorer With a hat-trick against PFC Levski Sofia on Matchday 2, Drogba is the leading scorer in the competition with four goals. The 28-year-old will have to go some to better the spectacular strike at Stamford Bridge as he controlled Ashley Cole's forward pass, threw off the attentions of Carles Puyol before swivelling to crack an unstoppable finish beyond Víctor Valdés. Value for money Whether it is the challenge posed by summer arrival Andriy Shevchenko for the role of No1 striker, or more familiarity with his surroundings in his third season in English football, Drogba has won over the Chelsea sceptics and is proving value for the €37.5m fee the Londoners paid Olympique de Marseille for him two years ago. Strong position Their lead at the top of Group A will be good insurance for José Mourinho's men as they prepare for successive away matches against Barça and Werder Bremen who are level on four points. "Nine points puts us in a very good position in the group but we have two tough games to come," said Lampard. "We're by no means there yet but we've given ourselves a great chance. Satisfying night "We were strong from the start and against a team with the quality of Barcelona we knew we had to have the right attitude to stop them playing their football and to play our own game," he added. "Once we got the goal we played with great desire and spirit and if we'd finished our chances, we could have won by two or three." SOURCE: UEFA.com
Drogba signs new four-year deal with Chelsea
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has signed a new four-year deal running until 2010. The 28-year-old joined the club for £24m in July 2004 and has been in fine form this season with 10 goals in 15 games to his credit. The Ivory Coast international told Chelsea's television station: "I am not playing well just because I wanted to sign a new contract. "I'm playing well as I feel good and I am happy to train with my friends." There were doubts cast over Drogba's first-team chances at Chelsea when manager Jose Mourinho landed striker Andriy Shevchenko in the summer. But Drogba has risen to the challenge while Shevchenko has struggled for form. Drogba scored a last-gasp equaliser against Barcelona in a Champions League match on Tuesday as well as netting the winner when the two clubs met in the reverse group game. His collection of goals so far during the campaign also saw him grab an exquisite winner when Liverpool visited Stamford Bridge. Drogba added: "I want to say thank you to Jose for believing in me since the beginning and now we will be together for a long time. The best period of my career I think. "I am happy because when I came here it wasn't easy for me to say I would be signing a new contract with Chelsea, because everybody knows the first year was difficult. "The second one was okay but I knew I could do better."
SOURCE: BBC Sport
Toure nets new four-year Gunners deal
Kolo Toure has pledged his long-term future to Arsenal after putting pen-to-paper on a new four-year deal. The Ivory Coast international has emerged as one of the club's leading players in the past few seasons and is very much the bedrock on which Arsene Wenger has built his defence. Toure arrived in North London on Valentine's Day in 2002 and in the intervening four years, he has quickly established himself as a firm favourite with the club's faithful. The 25-year-old has confirmed negotiations were a straightforward affair, given his utmost commitment to staying at Emirates Stadium. Confident that a new chapter is ready to be written into the Arsenal history books, given the potential shown by Wenger's charges over the past couple of campaigns, Toure admits he would be willing to see out the remainder of his playing days in red and white. "I can see myself staying here [at Arsenal] for the rest of my career," said Toure to Arsenal's official website. “Why would I want to leave? I love my football here, my family is settled here and the club is ambitious. It is fantastic." SOURCE: SkySports
Royals target Ivory Coast's Fae
vory Coast international Emerse Fae is believed to be a target for Reading, according to reports emanating out of France. The 22-year-old Nantes midfielder was a summer target for the Royals along with Ghanaian defender John Mensah. While Steve Coppell had appeared to miss out on the World Cup duo from Africa this summer, he now looks set to rekindle his interest in Fae in January. Nantes currently languish bottom of Ligue 1 and Fae's departure would be the first under new coach Georges Eo after he took the reins in mid-September. In contrast, Reading have made a fine start to their first ever season in the top flight and Fae's capture would serve to reinforce their status as a Premiership force to be reckoned with. SOURCE: skysports.com
Ivory Coast line up Sweden friendly
Ivory Coast will play Sweden in an international friendly next month. According to the Swedish FA, the match will be played in the French city of Le Mans on 15 November. The game will be played at the Stade Omnisports stadium and will be the first meeting between the two countries who both reached the World Cup finals in Germany earlier this year. Sweden reached the second round where they were beaten by the hosts Germany, while Ivory Coast were eliminated at the group stage.
SOURCE: BBC Sport
Al Arabi sack ex-Ivory Coast coach, Henri Michel
Former Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel has been sacked by the Qatari club Al Arabi after just four months in the job. The Frenchman had only been in charge for six league games in which the club won twice and lost three times. During his short reign, Al Arabi were also knocked out in the first round of the Gulf Cup. Michel quit as the coach of the Ivory Coast in June after the Elephants failed to progress beyond the group stage of the World Cup. The Elephants lost their opening two matches at the tournament, but picked up a consolation 3-2 win over Serbia and Montenegro. SOURCE: BBC Sports
Still no deal for Drogba
Didier Drogba has yet to sign a new contract at Stamford Bridge, despite the fact talks with Chelsea commenced before the start of the season. The player's representatives are trying to thrash out a new deal for the powerful Ivorian and they are in a strong position given Drogba's outstanding displays thus far this term. It was thought the arrival of Andrei Shevchenko would, perhaps, mean Drogba played a more peripheral role in West London but on the contrary, while the Ukrainian has struggled, his team-mate has flourished. Topping the goal charts and a favourite of manager Jose Mourinho, Drogba is expected to receive a sizeable hike in his pay but as yet, a deal has not been brokered. Drogba's agent, Pierre Frelot, has confirmed that talks are ongoing and that he is hopeful a contract extension can be agreed, despite the delay. "We are still in discussions," he told the Daily Star. "It is taking longer than we expected. "Didier is a really important player in the group and we are aware of that."
SOURCE: skysports.com
The Stielike: We must take the next step
Even before a string of impressive performances at the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany™, Côte d'Ivoire were regarded as one of Africa's most promising teams.
Two weeks ago, a new man took charge of the side built around Chelsea superstar Didier Drogba - German coach Uli Stielike. The experienced tactician was appointed to the Elephants' top job in mid-September, with the task of leading them to African Cup of Nations glory in 2008. The 51-year-old, once on the books at Real Madrid and part of the West Germany side which won the 1980 UEFA European Championship and finished runners-up at the 1982 FIFA World Cup, was assistant to former Germany boss Erich Ribbeck from 1998 until EURO 2000, before working in the German Football Association (DFB) youth section, most recently as U-20 coach. Côte d'Ivoire will face their first competitive test since the FIFA World Cup on 8 October when Stielike and his team open their CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign against Gabon in Abidjan. FIFA.com spoke to Stielike ahead of his first game at the Elephants' helm. FIFA.com:Uli Stielike, what are you up to right now? Uli Stielike: I'm on my way to Lille, where one of my players, Kader Keita, is appearing against AC Milan in the Champions League. Have you got to know any more of your new players? I was in London last week to watch Chelsea, and I had a chat with Didier Drogba after the game. I also met up with Kolo Toure, who plays for Arsenal. Both conversations were very productive and have left me very optimistic about the job. How have the players reacted to your appointment? They were surprised to find I have a reasonable command of French, so we've already overcome any communications problems. I think that counted as a plus point with the players, as they'd probably only heard of me from my time with Real Madrid, and didn't necessarily think I'd be able to speak French. They won't have known I spent a long time in Switzerland, where the dressing room language at Xamax Neuchatel under Gilbert Gress was French. What persuaded you to take on the job with Côte d'Ivoire? I saw them play at the World Cup. Both myself and a number of observers came to the conclusion that Côte d'Ivoire were the best footballing team eliminated at the group stage. So in footballing terms, my motivation was the quality in the team. What's your most urgent priority? We go straight into African Cup of Nations qualifying. There's no warm-up period, no friendlies for me. We play our first match against Gabon on 8 October. Djibouti have withdrawn, so our group only comprises Gabon, Madagascar and ourselves. Only one team qualifies from the group, so we can assume it's between Gabon and Côte d'Ivoire for first place. We have to start with a good result. That would make the job, and everything which comes afterwards, a little easier. Côte d'Ivoire go into qualifying as defending ACN runners-up. Are you under pressure to succeed right from the start? First of all, let's pay tribute to the outstanding work put in by Henri Michel over the last three years. Second place at [the last edition of] the tournament in Egypt and qualifying for the World Cup finals is a very healthy legacy. The team has set off on a journey, but they're nowhere near the end of it. The team for the World Cup was very young, which promises much for the future. On the other hand, they were a little too young to survive meetings with Argentina and the Netherlands. I believe they lacked the experience you need to withstand the really big names in a group like that. In terms of talent and quality, they could really have done better. The 2-1 defeat against the Dutch ought to have been a draw, to be frank, but they were punished for inexperience. My team for the match against Gabon will have an average age of less than 25. Didier Drogba is the oldest player at 28. I'm hoping the experience the players have gained in the last two major tournaments will have helped them come on. You were successful as a junior coach in Germany. Will that help you in your new job? I only took up the position on 15 September, so my first priority is to watch as many players as possible before the first qualifier. Once we have the first match under our belts, I'll work extremely hard on the details, and take a look at as many players as I can. We have a clutch of U-23 players in Europe, especially in the French second division. Obviously I'm keen to cast an eye over the younger generation at tournaments in Africa. You have very little time to prepare your team. What can you achieve ahead of the Gabon match? Obviously I've been trying to get my hands on as much information as possible, including DVDs of the African Cup of Nations and matches at the World Cup. I'm not short of information, but we'll only have direct contact once we gather in Abidjan. Will you go and live there? No, my top 30 players all operate in Europe, so there's no sense flying backwards and forwards from Europe every week. I live in Europe, and I already know how unbelievably strenuous it is just getting to watch three or four players each weekend. Apart from regulars Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue, who are both at Arsenal, all my players are at different clubs, so getting to see more than a couple each weekend is physically difficult, bordering on the impossible in fact. Do you intend to expand your coaching staff? I've just arranged to hire Claude Marietan, my former assistant coach at Xamax Neuchatel. First, I've worked with him before, and second, he speaks perfect French. I'll also probably need the services of a goalkeeping coach from time to time. Have you spoken to other German coaches who have worked in Africa, such as Otto Pfister and Winfried Schafer? No, I want to experience it all for myself. Obviously, that doesn't rule out talking amongs ourselves once in a while, especially if we play them. But the situation in Togo or Cameroon is very different than for Côte d'Ivoire. From what I've heard, we have a very disciplined and well-run association. Do you have any concrete targets, such as winning the African Cup of Nations? We must aim to take the next step, but the priority for now is qualifying for the tournament. Obviously, having finished second in Egypt, we'll want to have a crack at going one better and winning the title. The logical next step would be to qualify for the World Cup again, and then get through the group stage. But that's all a long way in the future, as I've only signed up until the end of the 2008 African Cup of Nations. Didier Drogba is the undoubted star of the team, but who are the other key players for the future? It's mainly the players who've established themselves in England, such as Didier Zokora at Tottenham Hotspur and Kolo Toure with Arsenal. But there are new faces too, such as Eboue. We have a number of promising young players, such as Arouna Kone, who's a regular with Eindhoven, or Aruna Dindane at Lens. But as you can see, we're mainly talking about attacking players. We don't yet have many options in defence. Do you believe an African team can win the 2010 FIFA World Cup? Just look at the interest shown by the European clubs, who have more than one eye on Africa. That's how strong African football has become. If you look at Senegal and Cameroon, they only have a handful of home-based players. So in one sense, the epicentre of the African championship has moved to Europe.
Didier Drogba has claimed African footballers are still victims of racism in Europe. The Chelsea star is hoping to lead his Ivory Coast team to the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in Accra on February 10. But even though the third biggest football event after the World Cup and European Championship will attract a worldwide audience, Drogba insists many of the players - including Manchester United's new Angolan capture Manucho - are still discriminated against at their clubs because they are paid less than their team-mates. The Elephants captain said: "To be an African player is not an advantage. A French international or an Ivory Coast international have totally different status. "An African of equal value will earn less than a European. We don't start on a level footing. When you talk to a sponsor about a contract or with a club, they say to you: 'That is the way it is'. "If you were in the France team, the negotiation would be pushed further and in the end you would earn a lot more money. Let's stop the lie." Drogba also rapped "a lack of respect" for the Africa Cup of Nations in the Premier League. He said: "When I see a player like Fredi Kanoute was stopped by Tottenham from going to the 2004 CAN for Mali, it lacked respect - not only for the player but for the whole of Africa."
SOURCE: Daily Mirror
Birmingham 1 Bolton 0
OLIVIER KAPO'S goal was all that divided the sides but it was enough to open up a huge gulf between two of the Premier League's scrappers. It was Bolton's fifth defeat in their opening six games and Sammy Lee's team already have the look of dead men walking. Birmingham's first home win of the season lifted them towards mid-table, thanks to the efforts of Kapo and winger Seb Larsson. Bolton, marooned in 19th spot, were rubbish and boss Lee came close to admitting it. Unlike his outspoken predecessor Big Sam, Little Sammy chose his words more carefully but the message was unmistakable. The Bolton boss said: "That was the most disappointing we have played this season. It was not just the result but the performance. We didn't really compete. You could say we didn't turn up today. Gloat "I'm struggling to find anything positive from this game. "The League table is always relevent. Last season 69 per cent of our points came before Christmas and I know the position we are now in. "It takes some catching up but we'll keep working hard to make sure we turn it around." Blues boss Steve Bruce could afford to gloat: "We deserved it. We were the better team from the start. It is even more pleasing when you realise that six or seven of our players were 22 or under." Blues slashed admission prices by 50 per cent to £15 for adults and a fiver for concessions but for half an hour the capacity crowd of 28,124 could claim they had been robbed. They were served up a mixed bag of hit and hope stuff from both sides with a few ill-timed tackles and bookings thrown in. Birmingham took the early territorial advantage but the best they could offer was a shot sliced wide by Cameron Jerome and a Kapo header from Larsson's free-kick, which was saved by Jussi Jaaskelainen. Bolton enjoyed a bright spell and should have taken the lead. Jlloyd Samuel saw a cross-shot tipped over by Maik Taylor, then Andy O'Brien managed to head El-Hadji Diouf's corner over the bar from three yards with the goal at his mercy. Blues took the lead in the 37th minute though with a goal from Kapo which carried a stamp of real quality. Former Arsenal man Larsson delivered a measured cross from the right and Kapo, who spent his formative years with Juventus, timed his run into the box to score with an outstretched leg. Larsson's class was the big difference between the two sides and when the Swede fired in a rising drive, Jaaskelainen did well to push it over the bar. Bolton sub Daniel Braatan saw his goalbound shot blocked by Stephen Kelly on 65 minutes. Then Larsson sent in a Beckham-like free-kick which hit the underside of the bar and bounced out. SOURCE: NOTW
Al-Jazira snatch Kalou from Lens
Ivory Coast striker Bonaventure Kalou has quit French side Lens just six weeks after joining the club. The 29-year-old left the Ligue One outfit on Wednesday to sign a three-year contract with United Arab Emirates side Al-Jazira. Kalou, who made just five appearances for Lens since joining, was allowed to leave for a transfer fee of US$2m. Lens paid the same amount for the player when he joined the club from rivals Paris St Germain in July. The Ivorian has not been impressive since joining the club as he failed to score in his five matches. "Kalou's departure is a blow for us as he is one of the most experienced players in our squad," Lens coach Jean-Pierre Papin said. "But it has also given us the opportunity to reorganise our attack." Kalou's departure will allow Lens to reduce their huge wage bill. The transfer was allowed to go through despite the closing of the window last Friday because the rule only applies to European clubs buying players.
BBC Sport
Jose treated me like Didi Dogba
DIDIER DROGBA says he has won the respect of his team-mates after telling Jose Mourinho to stop treating him like a dog. The £24million Chelsea striker got so fed up with doing all the dirty work he demanded a showdown meeting with manager Mourinho last summer. Now he reckons his colleagues look at him in a new light after firing his way to the top of the Premiership scoring charts this season. And instead of regarding him as some sort of White Van Man they now appreciate the true value of Drogba’s selfless contribution. Drogba said: “I went to see the manager last summer to tell him I wouldn’t do another season like the one before. “I was fed up working like a dog up front without too much resulting for me in return. “For my team-mates I was like some sort of removals lorry, freeing up space in the crowd and knocking the ball off for the others. “I wanted to rediscover the pleasure in playing football and getting the best from myself. Fortunately my meeting with the manager was very timely because he told me he wanted to change the Chelsea system and play with two strikers and a playmaker. “That meant I would have less of the basic workload when it came to winning the ball back and closing opponents down. “Obviously that has allowed me to put more strength and effort into other things, like scoring goals. “And this season I have noticed my team-mates see me differently now I have scored some decisive goals against teams like Barcelona, Liverpool, Everton and Newcastle.” Drogba scored 16 times in each of his first two seasons in England following his move from Marseille in 2004. But he has already passed that mark and chalked up his 23rd of the season in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Blackburn. And now he is eager to win the Golden Boot award as the Premiership’s top scorer. Drogba declared: “Scoring has never been an obsession for me but now I have to admit that every striker is going to be judged on the number of goals he gets. “In the past my attitude has cost me. Because I was not scoring a huge number of goals, I realised I was not considered indispensable or even very useful in spite of all my other work for the team. “But perhaps being in the race for top goalscorer is a good response to those people who doubted my ability.” Drogba, 28, insists he was happy to play second fiddle to Frank Lampard when the England midfielder outgunned him as Chelsea won the Premiership title last season. He said: “I wasn’t jealous of Frank for being top scorer. “I just think he was really intelligent in adapting to my game and getting the most out of my assistance. “The system we had last season favoured the midfielders for whom the striker often opened up the spaces.” The Ivory Coast star insists it is not just his Blues pals who have a new respect for his skills. For the player who became infamous for falling down at the merest touch reckons he has become a marked man for defenders. He said: “I have noticed teams now try to unsettle me before a match by declaring ‘Drogba will do nothing’. “I never used to get that kind of special treatment. “On the pitch I also find the tackles and collisions are even heavier, as if they needed to intimidate me even more. “But that sort of thing doesn’t bother me. I’m used to this way of defenders saying ‘Hello’. As long as it is fair I love this kind of combat.” Drogba is convinced a change of shirt number has also had an effect this season. He said: “I thought things were going to go well as soon as I got my favourite No 11 back before the season started. “That might sound silly but you know that all footballers are very superstitious and I took that as a sign. “For two years I had worn No 15 but I really wanted 11. “When Damien Duff signed for Newcastle I got back the number I had worn for Marseille and Guingamp. It gave me some reassurance.” SOURCE: The Sun
Drogba double keeps heat on Man-United
Two Didier Drogba strikes and an own goal from Abel Xavier were enough to give Chelsea victory against Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge. Drogba opened the scoring when he curled in a low 20-yard free-kick. Xavier poked in Arjen Robben's driven ball, before Drogba added his second with a free-kick that looped in following an Andrew Davies deflection. Boro's best chance came in the opening moments of the game when Mark Viduka headed wide from six yards. The visitors more than matched their esteemed Premiership rivals for much of the opening half and were unlucky to go into the break a goal down. Arguably, the best chance of the 45 minutes fell to the visitors when Viduka, almost inexplicably, headed wide from six yards after connecting with Andrew Taylor's left-wing cross. His strike partner, Yakubu, also caused the Chelsea defence - minus Ricardo Carvalho - a lot of bother. The bulky Nigeria forward sprung the offiside trap and took the ball into the area before cutting back only to see keeper Petr Cech palm the ball away and deprive Viduka of a shot on goal. Chelsea duo Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko also looked lively, although perhaps they did not work as well in tandem as their rival pairing. Nevertheless, individually they were a joy to watch. Ukraine's star striker Shevchenko created one piece of sublime trickery on the touchline to beat two Boro markers and also struck a shot from 25 yards that flew two yards wide. Drogba also saw two fierce efforts fly narrowly wide early in the half, before finally hitting the bullseye when his sidefooted 20-yard free-kick broke through the flimsy Boro wall to beat the dive of Schwarzer. Boro came close to levelling the scores midway through the second half when Yakubu's jinking run ended with a scooped shot over the bar. The striker and the rest of Gareth Southgate's team were left to rue that miss, when Portuguese defender Xavier inadvertantly deflected substitute Robben's driven ball past the helpless Schwarzer. Robben, who had been out for four games with an ankle injury, had only been on the pitch for a minute after coming on to replace the injured Lassana Diarra. Chelsea rounded off the scoring late in the game when Drogba, with the aid of Davies' shoulder, scored his 25th goal of the season from a set-piece on the left-corner of the 18-yard box.
SOURCE: BBC Sport
Drogba signed as UN goodwill ambassador
Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba has pledged to promote the fight against HIV/Aids in his role as a United Nations goodwill ambassador. On Wednesday, the Ivorian captain and Chelsea star was named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme. The 28-year-old will receive symbolic earnings of one dollar per year for his work in the UNDP's anti-poverty campaign. "I have been given opportunities to succeed in life, but I constantly think about the ones who did not have this chance," Drogba said. "We all need to contribute to help defeat poverty." The West African will focus in particular on the fight against HIV/Aids in Africa and the need to change male attitudes on the continent. "As a man and a role model for many young boys in Africa, I will do my best to promote the right messages to other men and boys to stop the pandemic," he said. Drogba is the latest high-profile footballer to join the UNDP, following in the footsteps of Brazil's Ronaldo and Frenchman Zinedine Zidane. SOURCE: BBC Sport
Kalou: Gallardo the key to victory
Paris Saint-Germain forward Bonaventure Kalou believes Argentine playmaker Marcelo Gallardo will be the team's key player when the French Ligue 1 strugglers travel to arch-rivals Olympique Marseille on Sunday. "His arrival is a good thing for the club. He is kind of player we were missing in the squad," the Ivory Coast international told OM's official website on Saturday. Gallardo, a former Argentina international who played in the French top-flight with Monaco from 1999 to 2003, joined the Parisians from River Plate during the January transfer window. PSG, who were humbled 3-1 by Marseille at the Parc des Princes earlier this season, are 16th in the standings. Fourth-placed Marseille, who trail third-placed Lens by one point, will have an eye on the top three, four days after beating Lyon 2-1 in a French Cup last-16 tie. "We come here to bring something back home but it will be hard," said Kalou. "Marseille are one of the most dangerous teams of the moment." SOURCE: FIFA.com
Bakayoko joins Italy's Messina
Ivory Coast striker Ibrahima Bakayoko has joined Italian club Messina. The 30-year-old signed a two-year contract from Serie A rivals Livorno on Thursday. The deal will keep him at the Sicilian club until June 2009. Messina, who sit 17th in the 20-team league, signed the evergreen Ivorian to help them beat the drop. "I have come here to add to the efforts of my team-mates to help improve the team's position in the league," Bakayoko said. "I will contribute in making this great institution even bigger in future." Bakayoko has struggled in Italy since joining Livorno from French club Istres in 2005. The striker could only manage four goals in 37 appearance for the Serie A outfit. He had previously played for French sides Montpellier and Marseille as well as Spain's Osasuna and Everton of the English Premiership. SOURCE: BBC Sport
Team First - Drogba tells Shevchenko
Chelsea's Didier Drogba has urged fellow striker Andriy Shevchenko to become more of a team player. The Ivory Coast forward believes the struggling Ukraine international, 30, is too worried about trying to justify his £30m transfer fee. Drogba was quoted in The Sun as saying: "On Shevchenko's side I don't really sense the desire to collaborate. "I think that as a big signing he believes he is obliged to justify his transfer fee with goals at any cost." Drogba has 21 goals in all competitions this year, compared to just eight from Shevchenko, who arrived in the summer from AC Milan. And Drogba says he is struggling to form the same sort of relationship that he did with Hernan Crespo last season. "I love to share but when I give, I appreciate it when I get something back. That's what happened with Hernan Crespo. But let's say it is a little different this season. "That is a real pity because everyone would have something to gain if we really worked together. I have tried to understand his position and get an explanation. "We know we are not rivals because, unlike in the past years, there is room for two in attack this season. "I understand it is a really difficult situation for him to handle. But you have to think of the team first." SOURCE: BBC Sport
Drogba palaver for Barca in a dramatic 2-2 draw
Didier Drogba rescued a dramatic point for Chelsea with an equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time that deprived Barca of a much-needed lift from their sinking fortunes in the group. The Ivory Coast international striker pounced for his 10th of the season just when Jose Mourinho's team seemed to have been sunk by old boy Eidur Gudjohnsen. Mourinho had poked fun at Gudjohnsen on the eve of the game - but the Icelander answered with a goal in the 58th minute. It looked like being the winner until Drogba slid the ball under Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes in the final moments. Deco had fired the European Cup holders into an early lead but Frank Lampard equalised with a fantastic chip from the tightest of angles. Mourinho's team are now virtually assured of a place in the last 16 of the competition. It was a stormy game with 10 yellow cards - six for Chelsea - while Barcelona thought Ashley Cole should have been sent off. Italian referee Stefano Farina appeared to show the England left-back two yellow cards in the first half - but it later emerged the first had been for Lampard. Chelsea fell behind in the third minute when Deco dashed down the left, twisted inside onto his right foot and netted. Mourinho had called for Farina to be strong - but he was not. He was poor. The crowd were quick to react when Drogba made a meal of a little nudge in the back, early in the game. Then Drogba was in the thick of it again when he bumped into Motta as the Brazilian midfielder climbed to his feet. Motta threw himself to the floor and Rafael Marquez grabbed the Chelsea striker. This time Drogba crashed to the turf and players rushed to the scene to jostle each other. Referee Farina failed to take control at this point and the tension crackled away. Ronaldinho tried to get Michael Essien sent off, claiming he had used an elbow on Gudjohnsen when he had actually caught him in the face with his wrist. Farina was reaching into his pocket for his yellow card, a few minutes later, to book two Chelsea players for dissent. He flashed the first yellow in the direction of Cole after giving a foul against Drogba. Lampard was standing near Cole at the time and it later emerged that he had been the one cautioned. The booking for Lampard was his third of the competition and he will be suspended from Chelsea's next game, away to Werder Bremen. The seriousness of the confusion became clear, 10 minutes later, when Cole mistimed a tackle on Motta and was booked. He showed the defender a yellow card but did not produce a red - and memories of Graham Poll in the World Cup were rekindled. Barcelona players crowded the referee to convince him that the full-back was already in the book. Farina went to the touchline to talk to Mourinho. He came back and booked Messi, presumably for something said - but still did not show Cole a red card. Drogba needed lengthy treatment at the start of the second half after taking a blow to the face in an aerial clash with Carles Puyol. Valdes made another excellent save to keep out a good header from Robben, destined for the bottom corner, then made further good stops to deny Robben and Essien. Robben fired a glorious chance over when he should have scored but Lampard levelled in the 52nd minute with a delightful piece of skill. The England midfielder initially miscontrolled a pass from Makelele and was driven wide of goal. It looked an impossible angle, tight to the touchline, but Lampard somehow curled a chip over Valdes and inside the back post. Chelsea were well on top and looking for the win when Rijkaard made a change, bringing on Edmilson for Motta. Barca were soon back in front with Ronaldinho dancing past Boulahrouz before finding for Gudjohnsen, who had the simplest of tasks to slide the ball into an open goal. Lampard wanted a penalty for a pull on his shirt by Xavi in the 65th minute but his appeals were ignored. Gudjohnsen's night ended early when he was stretchered off with 13 minutes left after falling awkwardly following a challenge by Ricardo Carvalho. And after Ballack had squandered a glorious chance to pull Chelsea level, on-song Drogba found the target, with captain John Terry assisting.
SOURCE: soccernet.com
Drogba dedicates goal to late Vicky Buchanan
Didier Drogba admits he was almost not on the pitch to score the goal he has dedicated to Vicky Buchanan. Buchanan worked in Chelsea's events department, but was killed in a car crash on Tuesday. Drogba admits the woman's death had been in the players' thoughts for Chelsea's UEFA Champions League tie with Barcelona. The game was settled by the Ivorian's goal early in the second half and he dedicated it to Buchanan, along with injured team-mates Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini. "I saw with the manager that he wanted to take me off for the second half because I was not good," Drogba told Sky Sports 2. "It was difficult for me to keep playing because we needed the three points for the team, for Petr, for Carlo and for the girl who died on the road. "She used to work for Chelsea. We had difficult moments and it's difficult to say that maybe we forget the victory. "Today, my goal is dedicated to all her family. "Nobody thinks Chelsea is a big family with everybody working behind all the players. "Every time you see the players, the work done behind is fantastic. I want to congratulate them for everything they do for us. If we are playing well today, it's because of them." Chelsea were playing Barcelona for the third consecutive season and Drogba was happy to finally score against the Spanish giants. He added: "I was waiting for this for two years now. It's difficult for me to play against Barcelona and not score in four games. "In the first game I was sent off, but I was happy because my team won the game at home. "Last year was very difficult because I was on the bench, supporting my partners and we were not lucky to win the game. "Today we did everything. We defended very well, we played as a team, with good spirit and, when you play like that, at the end you score."
SOURCE: skysports.com
Drogba stunner overcomes Barca
Didier Drogba's superb goal saw Chelsea defeat Barcelona to maintain The Blues' 100 percent start to Group A, while Liverpool found a cure for their travel sickness in Bordeaux. The in-form Drogba's turn and shot from the edge of the area just seconds after the interval gave Jose Mourinho's team a deserved 1-0 win as the group rivals resumed hostilities at Stamford Bridge. Werder Bremen hauled themselves level on points with second placed Barca following a 2-0 victory over bottom side Levski Sofia at Weser Stadion - Naldo's free kick on the stroke of half time broke the deadlock and Diego added a second a quarter of an hour from time. Group C leaders Liverpool earned their first away victory of the season with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Bordeaux. Peter Crouch atoned for two earlier misses by heading Craig Bellamy's corner into the back of the net on 59 minutes, and the Reds defence withstood late pressure to keep the Premiership side firmly on course for qualification. Elsewhere in Group C, Arouna Kone's goal saw PSV Eindhoven come from behind to claim a 2-1 win at Galatasaray. Sasa Ilic's deflected shot had seen the hosts go into the interval with a one-goal lead, but a mistake from goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon gifted Jan Kromkamp a 59th minute equaliser. The turnaround was completed by Ivory Coast hit-man Kone, who beat the hosts' flimsy offside trap to stroke in a 72nd minute winner to leave the Dutch team, like Liverpool, with one foot in the next round.
SOURCE: skysports.com
Kalou happy to play anywhere
Chelsea's summer signing Saloman Kalou is happy to play anywhere for The Blues as long as he is in Jose Mourinho's first team. The former Feyenoord youngster has been mainly restricted to substitute appearances this term, including emerging off the bench against Aston Villa last weekend. Kalou often played up front in Holland, but has been asked to play all over by Mourinho and is happy to be versatile for the Portuguese tactician. "I can adapt myself to any position," Kalou told Sky Sports News. "I said at the beginning I don't care where I play, the most important thing is to try and bring something for the team." Meanwhile, Kalou has revealed nerves got the better of him when he missed a late chance to give The Blues all three points against Villa. "I had the winning goal on my foot, but I was too excited about scoring my first goal," he continued. "It was a bad idea for me to shoot - next time I will be more relaxed and I will score my first goal."
SOURCE: skysports.com
Toure rules out summer move
Olympiakos star Yaya Toure insists he will be shun overtures from The Premiership in order to remain in Greece for at least the next two seasons. The Ivory Coast international, brother of Arsenal defender Kolo, has won admirers from England with his all-action style in midfield.It is understood he was watched by Premiership sides during the recent African Cup of Nations tournament as his country were beaten in the final by hosts Egypt.
"I have a contract with Olympiakos for two more years," he said after the match with OFI Crete.
"I want to stay until the end of the contract in Piraeus and even longer.
"I will speak with the president and I will say to him that I want to stay.
"I have a great time in Athens with my family.
"I like the club and the fans and I want to stay to help them do something great in the Champions League next season," he affirmed.
"I know that many European clubs are watching me but I am still young and I want to stay here to improve myself with Olympiakos.
"I have great expectations and I want to make them reality with my current club."
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has added his voice to the anti-racism cause by featuring on a new rap CD. 
Chelsea star Didier Drogba has warned he will refuse to play through the pain barrier as he looks to shake off a troublesome knee injury. 
Arsenal's players have long since finished training but there is still no sign of Kolo Toure in the media area. Even the notoriously tardy manager, Arsene Wenger, has completed his round of TV, radio and newspaper interviews when the penny drops. It being Friday, Toure has nipped out to the local mosque; prayers before press.
Ivorians have given a cautious welcome to their newest and perhaps most controversial international, Salomon Kalou. 
Didier Drogba's nephew Severin is close to joining Kaposvolgye, according to reports in Hungary.The 20-year-old is currently in Hungary searching for a club and has already undertaken a trial with Pecs. Pecs coach Ferenc Keszei was complimentary regarding Drogba's trial, but felt he was some way off making a first-team contribution. "Drogba's a very powerful striker who has potential, but it takes some time before a player is ready for the first division," Keszei. However, Drogba has not been deterred in his quest and is now with Kaposvolgye hoping to win a deal with the second division side.
Didier Drogba admits there is tension at Chelsea as speculation mounts about the future of boss Jose Mourinho and his alleged rift with Roman Abramovich. 
A second half goal by Bonaventure Kalou earned holders Paris Saint-Germain FC a 1-0 victory over Ligue 2 side FC Gueugnon and a spot in the last-16 of the French Cup. 
Ivory Coast midfielder Gilles Yapi Yapo has signed a new contract with Swiss Super League outfit BSC Young Boys. 
Frank Lampard has described Chelsea striker Didier Drogba as the best striker in Europe, after his teammate scored a magnificent winning goal against FC Barcelona.
Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has signed a new four-year deal running until 2010. 
Kolo Toure has pledged his long-term future to Arsenal after putting pen-to-paper on a new four-year deal. 
vory Coast international Emerse Fae is believed to be a target for Reading, according to reports emanating out of France. 
Ivory Coast will play Sweden in an international friendly next month. 
Former Ivory Coast coach Henri Michel has been sacked by the Qatari club Al Arabi after just four months in the job. 
Didier Drogba has yet to sign a new contract at Stamford Bridge, despite the fact talks with Chelsea commenced before the start of the season. 
OLIVIER KAPO'S goal was all that divided the sides but it was enough to open up a huge gulf between two of the Premier League's scrappers. 
Ivory Coast striker Bonaventure Kalou has quit French side Lens just six weeks after joining the club. 
DIDIER DROGBA says he has won the respect of his team-mates after telling Jose Mourinho to stop treating him like a dog. 
Two Didier Drogba strikes and an own goal from Abel Xavier were enough to give Chelsea victory against Middlesbrough at Stamford Bridge. 
Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba has pledged to promote the fight against HIV/Aids in his role as a United Nations goodwill ambassador. 
Ivory Coast striker Ibrahima Bakayoko has joined Italian club Messina. The 30-year-old signed a two-year contract from Serie A rivals Livorno on Thursday. 
Chelsea's Didier Drogba has urged fellow striker Andriy Shevchenko to become more of a team player. 
Didier Drogba rescued a dramatic point for Chelsea with an equaliser in the third minute of stoppage time that deprived Barca of a much-needed lift from their sinking fortunes in the group.
Didier Drogba admits he was almost not on the pitch to score the goal he has dedicated to Vicky Buchanan.
Didier Drogba's superb goal saw Chelsea defeat Barcelona to maintain The Blues' 100 percent start to Group A, while Liverpool found a cure for their travel sickness in Bordeaux.
Chelsea's summer signing Saloman Kalou is happy to play anywhere for The Blues as long as he is in Jose Mourinho's first team. 
Olympiakos star Yaya Toure insists he will be shun overtures from The Premiership in order to remain in Greece for at least the next two seasons. The Ivory Coast international, brother of Arsenal defender Kolo, has won admirers from England with his all-action style in midfield.It is understood he was watched by Premiership sides during the recent African Cup of Nations tournament as his country were beaten in the final by hosts Egypt.