Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (French pronunciation: [didje iv dʁɔɡba tebili]; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team. Best known for his career at Chelsea, he is the club’s all-time top foreign goalscorer and their fourth-highest goalscorer of all time. Widely regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, Drogba was named the African Footballer of the Year twice in 2006 and 2009. He was named in the 2007 FIFA World XI. In 2022, he was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame. With a record of scoring 10 goals in 10 finals, Drogba has been called the "ultimate big game player". After playing in youth teams, Drogba made his football debut at the age of 21 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans. After four seasons, he joined Ligue 1 side Guingamp in 2002 before joining French giants Olympique de Marseille a year later. At Marseille, Drogba was awarded the Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 2003–04 and helped the club reach the 2004 UEFA Cup final. In July 2004, Drogba joined Premier League club Chelsea for £24 million. In his debut season, he helped Chelsea win their first league title in 50 years, and won another a year later. In 2006–07, Drogba earned the Premier League Golden Boot before winning it again in 2009–10 when he scored 29 goals in 32 games to help Chelsea win the Premier League title. In March 2012, Drogba became the first African player to score 100 Premier League goals. Two months later, he scored in Chelsea's 2012 FA Cup final win over Liverpool to become the first player to score in four FA Cup finals. He also played in the 2012 UEFA Champions League final, where he scored an 88th-minute equaliser and the winning penalty in the penalty shootout against Bayern Munich. After spending six months with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua, he moved to Turkish club Galatasaray. Drogba returned to Chelsea in July 2014, featuring heavily as Chelsea won the 2014–15 Premier League title. He joined Canadian club Montreal Impact in 2015 as a designated player before becoming a player and owner of Phoenix Rising in the United Soccer League in 2017 and retired a year later at the age of 40. Drogba made his debut for Ivory Coast in 2002 and became the captain in 2006. He is the nation's all-time top goalscorer with 65 goals in 105 appearances. He led the Ivory Coast to the 2006 FIFA World Cup, their first appearance in the tournament, and scored their first goal. He captained Ivory Coast at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups. He led Ivory Coast to two Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2006 and 2012, though they lost on penalties on both occasions.On 8 August 2014, he announced his retirement from international football. Drogba played a vital role in solving issues in his home country and in Africa. In 2007, he was appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme. In December 2018, he became Vice President of the international organization Peace and Sport.
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