#MIC DROP GOAL EXPLOSION SERIAL#

Ivory Coast, knowing nothing less than a victory would do, made short work of a Sudanese side second-bottom in the group. Drogba was the leader of Ivory Coast's 'golden generation'Ĭameroon's match against Egypt in Yaounde and Ivory Coast's fixture with Sudan kicked off simultaneously.

#MIC DROP GOAL EXPLOSION SERIAL#

Arsene Wenger, whose Arsenal side frequently found themselves on the wrong end of Drogba's brutal style, said of him: 'He is a winner and he will be like that until the end of his life.'ĭrogba was indeed a serial winner, but the pressure on that October night in Sudan was entirely different. Love him or hate him, his achievements in west London were unquestionable.įour Premier League titles, four FA Cups, three League Cups and a Champions League winner's medal. His nine-year stay in the Premier League was synonymous with a number of things - including a brutally effective, bulldozing style of centre-forward play and accusations ranging from unsportsmanlike behaviour to outright cheating. Drogba had signed for Chelsea for a reported £24m in July 2004, a UK record at the time for a strikerĭidier Drogba had arrived at Chelsea in 2004 for a reported fee of £24m. And nobody encapsulated this quite like the man who led their line, and who was about to take centre stage. But the Ivorian players that evening, despite their multi-million-pound lives in Europe, knew much more was at stake. The money involved can catapult them into a different realm, and the results can be unpalatable. Modern footballers can seem a world away from the everyday man and woman.

The future of the West African country looked bleak. Much of the fighting had ended in 2004, but tensions were rising once again in 2005. The initial violence was fierce but short-lived, as both sides became quickly entrenched along a north-south divide. That's the only worry I had each morning.' 'All I cared about was whether my family was going to be OK. 'They all hid under the bed for four days, and only came out to find food. When I called my sister I could hear the shooting outside the house,' he says.

Sebastien Gnahore, an ex-footballer who fled Ivory Coast, recalls those times. A civil war that began in 2002 had divided the country, with President Laurent Gbagbo's government controlling the south and a rebel faction known as The New Forces of Ivory Coast, led by Guillaume Soro, controlling the north.įighting broke out on 19 September 2002 with rebels attacking various cities across the country. Yet, while Ivory Coast's footballing stars stood on the verge of history, back home the country teetered on the edge of something dark. Despite having lost twice to Cameroon in qualifying, they remained agonisingly close as they took to the pitch in Sudan that evening. This was a squad that could match anything on the African continent. Yaya Toure, then with Greek side Olympiakos and still considered raw, was waiting in the wings. They were led by the artfully bruising Didier Drogba, with Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Didier Zokora all also shining in the Premier League, a world away in London. The tag 'golden generation' can be a substantial yoke to bear, but the Ivorian squad in 2005 was just that.

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