Didier Drogba

Didier Drogba is an Ivorian footballer, and one of the most famous players in Africa and across the globe. He currently plays for Chelsea in the English Premier League, and has scored more goals for the club than any other foreign player in the club’s history. He is also the all-time leading goal scorer for the Côte d’Ivoire national team with 45 goals in 71 matches.

Drogba was born in Abidjan, a large coastal city in Côte d’Ivoire. He grew up playing football in streets and car parks, and at the age of 5, he was sent to live with his uncle, professional footballer Michel Goba, in France, however he returned to live in Côte d’Ivoire soon after when he became homesick. He returned again to live with his uncle after his parents lost their jobs, until he finally managed to settle when his parents moved to France soon after and began living in the outskirts of Paris.

It was around this time that Drogba began playing football more frequently, joining youth teams and eventually joining semi-professional team Levallois. From here Drogba moved to Le Mans and then Guingamp, two teams in France’s second tier. Drogba moved to Marseille in Ligue 1 for £3.3million in 2003, before signing for Chelsea a year later for a massive £24million. Since joining, Drogba has played over 200 games for Chelsea, and is their 6th highest goal scorer of all time.

In recent years Drogba has used his celebrity status, particularly in Africa, to launch a charity, the Didier Drogba Foundation. The charity aims to provide financial support for both health and educational developments in Africa, and Drogba recently pledged £3million he received for becoming the face of Pepsi to building a new hospital in his home town of Abidjan. Drogba was also named as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme in 2007, and in 2010 he was named in Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people on the planet.

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