When I heard the news of the broken arm, the confession to Kolo Touré, the “for him, he said, the World Cup is finished,” I did not know what to do. I sat down. I was so flustered that even my thoughts stuttered a little. “It’s, it’s n-n-not f-fair” I thought. This was his World Cup. Even though ESPN is force-feeding Messi to the American public, Didier Drogba was the real face of the tournament. He wasn’t just playing for his country, he was playing for all of Africa; that’s what he’d said. Now the Ivory Coast’s chances were dashed and their matchup with Brazil in the group stage had gone from the most exciting game of the first round to another stepping stone on the seleção’s path to #6. This turn of events was tragic.
Then I stopped myself. Just whose loss I was mourning? This was Didier Drogba, striker for Chelsea; Didier Drogba, who has caused me to yell more obscenities at my television than any other athlete except for Dwight Howard; Didier Drogba, who has sent my beloved Liverpool out of contention in Europe and the Premier League multiple times. I should have been rejoicing in the schadenfreude of the moment. For minutes, two sides of my brain were locked in fierce combat. “He’s a good man!” “He’s a diver!” “He was on the cover of Time Magazine’s people of the year issue! He ended a civil war!” “He plays for Chelski! And he’s a diver!” Neither side would budge. How can a man who unified a warring country be the most polarizing figure in football?
Watching Didier play for Chelsea is a lot like playing a game of Where’s Waldo, only if Waldo were a volcano about to erupt. Sometimes he floats, other times he barrels, but most of the time he just materializes from thin air within the 18 yard box, as if the enemy back line is an invisibility cloak he can whip off whenever he chooses. Sure, Didier’s stronger than the defenders who mark him. He could throw them over his shoulders, wear them like a cape, as Jozy Altidore wore Joan Capdevila during the Confederations Cup. But Didier doesn’t have to, not with the way he times his runs. In the millisecond that it takes for Malouda’s low cross to skip to Didier’s feet and the announcer to yell “Drogbaaaaaaa!” Didier glances at the ball, and glances at the keeper, and begins to whisper them a lullaby. “There’s a Bible passage I got memorized,” Drogba says. Didier sees the ball preparing to respond and silences it with his first touch. “Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly –”
But before Didier can finish, he’s already struck with great vengeance and furious anger. The cameras click because the cameras have been conditioned to click whenever they see a ball hurtling through the air past the ragdoll arm of the goalkeeper. Near post. Roof of the net. Keeper in a sad pile of limbs on the ground. Didier runs towards the corner flag with bulging eyes and outstretched arms. Stamford Bridge bathes him in sound and appreciation as they salute their shepherd in the valley of darkness, the best striker in the world.
And he is the best striker in the world. Quicker than Fabiano. Unlike Torres, his ligaments are not made out of overcooked fettucine. Better in the air than Rooney and Forlán. Craftier than Higuaín. And Messi…well, Messi’s a winger. Which is why it is so jarring to see Didier set up for a free kick. This is not the striker’s place. The striker should be lurking inside the six, waiting to poke in a rebound. Free kicks are for the little midfield maestros; the Sneijders, the Pirlos, the Xavis. Hell, Didier has one on his own team, yet he remains steadfast. And just when you expect Lampard to end the charade and take the kick himself, Didier catches the keeper leaning the wrong way and his shot dips into the bottom right corner. 2-0. The cameras train in on his face as he trots back to the center circle, and if you look closely, you can see him muttering “And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you.” He’s been saying that shit for years.
But for all Didier’s transcendent play, he frustrates almost as much as he amazes. He is petulant, cheeky, and at times makes very, very bad decisions. John Terry most likely would not have had his Chelsea legacy marred by the wet Moscow turf had Drogba not been sent off earlier for slapping Nemanja Vidić in the face. How can Didier be heralded as a great man and a political difference-maker if he acts so childishly? Nelson Mandela never screamed “It’s a fucking disgrace” at a camera broadcasting on an international feed. Without the large stage of a World Cup on his home continent, Drogba may not have another chance to continue the gradual shift in how people view him. I mean, if you’ve already helped end a civil war and you can’t get people on your side, there aren’t very many more avenues to explore to gain their approval. They’re saying his surgery was successful. He may still get his chance.
I still can’t decide whether Didier is the righteous man or the tyranny of evil men. But what I do know is that South Africa 2010 should belong to him, that he’s desperate to put Earth’s second-biggest landmass on his back. More than anything, I know Didier is trying. He is trying real hard to be the shepherd.
Will Levinger is a student at Concord Academy. He will argue for Michael Parkhurst’s inclusion in the USMNT until the day he dies.
Read More: Didier Drogba, World Cup
by Will Levinger · June 7, 2010
I think I felt the same mixture of emotions when I heard the news of his injury. Most of me hates his petulance, his acting, his poor sportsmanship. But a small part of me wants to see a minnow make a big splash, and I feel like that’s been taken away.
I like this a lot. Fernando Torres is curiously absent from the “best striker in the world,” paragraph, if I may say so.
Max: Unlike Torres, Didier’s ligaments are not made out of overcooked fettuccine.
Really enjoyed this, but I’m with Max: no Torres? And are we 100% certain Mandela never screamed “It’s a fucking disgrace” at a camera broadcasting on an international feed?
The Torres omission is my fault; I inadvertently cut Will’s line about him before the piece went up. It’s back now. Address any future be-puzzlement to me.
Great piece.
I’m pretty sure that Didier has a wallet that says Bad Ass Mother Fucker on it.
Brilliant article.
@David Mandela did cheat on and leave his wife, so there’s that. And his family’s blatant exploitation of him and his name, but I’m not sure he’s responsible for that one.
A fascinating read, Will. An honest man laments Drogba’s faults as earnestly as he praises his strengths, so kudos. Tis interesting that Villa was absent from your discussion. And the conclusory observation that Didi’s superior aerial prowess gives him the edge over Rooney was equally peculiar. As for the free kick allegation, was it not only very recently that he figured out this talent? Before last season, were there not 10 or 30 other names that came to mind before his when considering dead ball specialists?
Alas, when Didi assembles his weapons and masters his demons, he can be a force that few others can rival. But for a player to exit the Champions League in shameful displays for three consecutive seasons…well that is one giant Achilles’ heel. Write on, sir!
Torres omission or no, you are still correct in your assertion. Drogba is indeed the best striker in the world. I suspect, Will, that like mine your opinion of the man was swayed some by Grant Wahl’s recent Drogba piece in SI?
I’ve never really bought into the whole notion of “Drogba as the face of Africa” for this World Cup. Sure he was born there but spent much of youth and development in France. He obviously never played professionally in Cote d’Ivoire and only lived there for I think five years before moving to France, only returning to Africa periodically. One’s footballing upbringing very much dictates the player one becomes. Benny Feilhaber was born in Brazil but moved to the US when he was six. There is nothing discernibly Brazilian about his style of play or existence as a footballer. Granted, one would be hard-pressed to determine an Ivorian style of play in Drogba’s case.
Was surprised to see Eto’o not mentioned even in passing in this piece. His story is indeed a bit different, he at least was part of an academy in Cameroon and didn’t move to Europe until he was 16 years old. His first Cameroon cap, in fact, came while he was still living in the country way back in 1996. Interestingly (but not really implicating anything substantial), Eto’o – three years younger than Drogba – received his first national team cap a whole six years before his Ivorian counterpart. I suppose, however, that this is just the reality of the modern game. A young African with loads of potential isn’t going to spend much time on the continent if the men in suits have their say. Which they will.
brett, i haven’t been to africa, but i’ve heard from a friend of mine who travels all throughout the continent that drogba is every kid’s ultimate hero, and i don’t think my friend has ever even been to ivory coast, where it surely must be ten-fold what it is anywhere else.
you could even look at obama. he’s in many ways 100% american, but after the election, every child in kenya was named either barack or michelle for months.
Also, do not forget Essien. I have friends from Ghana and they worship him, but also others from the continent look to Ghana and the Ivory Coast. One of my Ethiopian friends called the Black Stars the “lions of African football”. Somebody (coughEto’ocough) needs to make this tournament Africa’s tournament.
@Brett The difference is that Drogba embraces the role for Africa in a way that Feilhaber doesn’t for Brazil. Given his background, it would be easy for him to turn into a basically Euro or cosmopolitan figure, but some combination of ego, pride, loyalty, and conscience makes him want to be the savior figure that his fans on the continent mistake him for. It’s a bigger deal because it’s not just roots; it’s a commitment.
I started to support Chelsea because of Gianfranco Zola. I fell in love with Chelsea because of Didier Drogba. His strength, his petulance, his audacity and his goals–oh god did he score beautiful goals. He is, as Will rightly points out, a mess of contradictions. A hero/a villian, a player of remarkable strength and poise/a diver, a scorer of the most important goals/a man who’s bottled his last three Champions Leagues, etc. etc. And so too is Chelsea– a historical butt-of-the-joke/a winner of three out of six league titles, Chelsea Headhunters/prawn sandwiches, etc. Almost two years ago, Brian wrote in “The Death of the Idea of Chelsea” that the club (under Mourinho and Grant) was a “meteoric, vicious, farcical, unstoppable force.” Didier Drogba is nothing if not that. And maybe I love him more because our bridge from that era to this one–a man who’s ornery enough to win 1-0 but exuberant enough to win 8-0.
Only two other things to add:
1. Drogba’s first 50 goals for Chelsea: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGtI4GNfzIw . Watching it for the first time in a while, I’m surprised by how much more complete he has become season by season. He was really mostly a goal-poacher his first season and each year he seems to get better and better at creating his own goals & scoring from distance. Long may it continue. Also, contributing to the discussion in the comments, he scored two very Drogba-like free kicks his first season so I’d suggest he’s always had the nose for them but maybe didn’t have the clout to take them until more recently. As long as Frank isn’t ballooning them into the Matthew Harding…
2. Will, you’re right. Michael Parkhurst should be playing in South Africa or for the national side somewhere, sometime. I’ve got a theory that Parkhurst is secretly a North Korean national posing as America’s greatest untapped resource in defense. Bradley knows this and won’t call him up because he knows he’s a saboteur. It’s just a theory but I’m pretty sure it’s also the truth.
This is so much more coherent than most thoughts I have now, let alone when I was “a student at Concord Academy” or some such. Well done.
Sizzling post, great execution and just a phenomenal read.
I can’t stand Chelsea or Drogba but I also can’t stand to miss one of their matches. At any moment he can create something amazing or miss something simple. That’s it right there for me.
If he plays its going to be amazing and I hope he does. If he doesn’t we’ve all been robbed of a great athlete and a consummate show-men on sports biggest stage. Toure to Toure to Drogba would be a gas. Here’s to hoping that he’s sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, eating bushels of kale and taking his vitamins.
Well put.
I tried to explain these exact same feelings (right down to the Liverpool part) earlier today to my dad and a friend from college. Thank goodness this post showed up–I just sent them both this post instead. You put it perfectly. (Even socrates and jwoodisgood said my comment better, for that matter.)
Fantastic! Although Adebayor would make a far more convincing Samuel L. Jackson, in facial resemblance if not in terms of wreaking vengeance.
But why is Lampard mentioned in the same breath as Xavi, Pirlo and Sneijder? Completely different type of player.
Shorter: No Drogba in the world cup? That’s a fucking disgrace.
The part of DD you do not like.. in fact hate.. does not matter…in his home Country the Ivory Coast.. he is GOD incarnate..
That said i find the constant dwelling on DD diving disingenuous to say the least.. CR9 is a diver..Rooney dove at times and talking about petulence.. Rooney is it..
Drogba is not liked by the English because they wished he were English.. the English who overlook the faults of all others in the PL and waste their saliva criticising DD.. IF DD were English, the 3 Lions would would have won this 2010 WC.
Good article though.. When DD was floored by Tulio last Friday, the TV commentator immediately commented.. DD is rolling on the ground.. nothing wrong with him i bet.. you can never tell with DD.. then it transpires that he broke his elbow.. so how do we know.. how do you know that in the many instances when you felt he was diving, defenders did not in fact foul him.. you do not know.. One thing we all know.. for the people of the Ivory Coast he is the real deal.. that is really what matters..