5 Greatest Didier Drogba Moments

For a man like Didier Drogba, big moments are aplenty. He holds a record for having scored in ten competitive finals and many goals in crucial games.

It is difficult to narrow down the impact he had into his five greatest moments. Drogba was a phenomenon for the Chelsea faithful and one of greatest Ivorians to grace the game.

In the list below are some moments which display Drogba's most iconic moments. Some moments here are more memorable than others but highlight the iconic moments of Drogba as a footballer and Drogba as a man. This is what separates a great player from a Legend.

Drogba officially confirmed his retirement on 21st November 2018. Apart from two spells at Chelsea, Drogba played for Le Mans, EA Guingamp, Marseille, Galatasaray, Phoenix Rising, Shanghai Shenhua and Montreal Impact.

#5 2009 FA Cup Final

He scored in four different FA Cup Finals and even scored in both the League Cup and FA Cup final two years before this one.

What stands out in this performance is the value of his attitude. Drogba very rarely had spells where he was under pressure. But in the 2008-09 season, under Brazillian boss Scolari, he found himself out of form and out of favour. Nicholas Anelka was preferred over him in a one striker formation. It was not until the appointment of Guus Hiddink as interim-boss did he recover.

In FA Cup Final vs Everton, he netted in a 2-1 win to bring Chelsea level and with it returned himself to the most valued striker in Chelsea's lineup. Drogba's never say die attitude is what Jose Mourinho claimed is the former Chelsea man's greatest ability.

The equalising goal which inspired a comeback reinforced his ability to fight when the chips were not in his favour.

#4 That Barcelona Equaliser

In October 2006, Barcelona were yet to have their greatest ever side. Chelsea were yet to prove they were big boys in Europe. They started the group well but had to beat Barcelona to seal their own progress to the next rounds. Losing would mean the group would be blown wide open.

Barcelona despite not being the side they would become in the near future still were a formidable side. And they displayed that touch three minutes in when Deco scored to put them 1-0 up at home. Chelsea made some great strides in the middle of the game but could only find one goal through Frank Lampard.

Former Chelsea man Eiður Guðjohnsen made it 2-1 on 52 minutes and Barcelona looked like they had this tie in the bag.

In the second minute of a total three minutes of extra came Didier Drogba with an exquisite finish outside the box to make it 2-2, a goal which sent manager Jose Mourinho on a kow-powing streak on the touchline! It wasn't Drogba's most important Champions League goal but was one of the first times when Chelsea showed they could keep up with the big boys of Europe.

#3 100th Premier League Goal

Chelsea's Didier Drogba scored PL goal no. 100 v Stoke

Drogba is a bonafide legend of the modern game. In 2011-12, he became the first African to score a 100 English top-flight goals. He had already scored more than a hundred goals in all competitions for Chelsea two years ago.

His goal came in a mixed final campaign of his first spell at the club. He entered the 100 club against Stoke in a routine 1-0 win. He turned in a low volley from Juan Mata's cross to land the landmark goal in March 2012. Drogba's goal set him up for the record books as well as he entered the Top 25 Goalscorers of all time in the Premier League era.

He would not score any more in the league that campaign but would add four more in his second spell at the West London club to take his tally to 104. The emergence of Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane has relegate Drogba to 27th on the all-time scorers list, which does not reflect the importance his goals had for Chelsea in their most successful decade in history.

#2 2011-12 Champions League Final

FC Bayern Muenchen v Chelsea FC - Drogba pictured in the team celebration

This is what will be known as the game which finally launched Chelsea to the fabled land of 'European giants.' A penalty-shootout loss to Manchester United a couple season's earlier still stung for the Blues. Drogba had been sent off in that game.

Chelsea were having a very miserable domestic campaign by their own lofty standards and were manged by interim manager Roberto di Matteo. At the Allianz Arena, the venue of the final, Chelsea had managed to drag themselves to the final to face hosts Bayern München, who were a superb run of form.

Bayern took the lead despite what pundits decried as the most 'anti-football' display in history by Chelsea. The Blues lacked creativity and nothing seemed to working going forwards. Chelsea ha some key players missing including Captain John Terry and midfielders Ramires and Raul Meireles apart from Branislav Ivanovic.

A corner in the 88th minute saw Drogba leap and send the Chelsea fans into pandemonium with an equaliser.

Extra-time saw both teams failing to score and the game went to penalties. Drogba scored the decisive spot-kick in sudden death to win the Champions League for Chelsea, the first London club to do so.

This was a performance praised by rival manager Sir Alex Ferguson who said, "As far as I'm concerned Drogba won them the Champions League."

#1 First Ivorian to Score at the World Cup

Drogba is a national icon for the people of Cote'd Ivore. He was the country's top scorer in the Qualifying rounds of the 2006 World Cup campaign, which was the first time the country managed to reach the World Cup finals.

Drawn in a difficult group consisting of Argentina and Netherlands along with Serbia and Montenegro, the Ivorian squad would revel in the experience of what many pundits labelled 'the group of death'. The Ivory Coast side only managed to beat Serbia and Montenegro to finish third in the group losing to both Argentina and Netherlands.

They gave a good account of themselves losing both encounters 2-1. But Drogba had his moment in the first game of their World Cup campaign against Argentina, where he scored in 82nd minute to score what was his first World Cup goal and notably the first-ever goal by the Ivory Coast in the premier tournament.

Edited by Sripad