Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Drogba: The Last King of Chelsea

Ball Harambee By Bagga Wilks

It is likely that Didier Drogba will not return to Chelsea for the EPL season of 2012-2013. But he has been immortally etched in the annals of Chelsea’s history. Minutes from being knocked out of the Champions League, Drogba rose above the Bayern Munich defenders and executed a spectacular header from a corner. Muller had appeared to seal the deal for Bayern Munich after scoring a header from a free kick in the 83rd minute.


Bayern Munich held the upper hand for ninety minutes but Chelsea defended tenaciously. The game was tied after 90 minutes and went into overtime.

Drogba inastutely tackled Ribery in the extra thirty minutes and gave Munich a penalty. Robben “bushed” the penalty. Robben throughout the game was forever dangerous but was never able to win the game for Bayern Munich. If Robben had scored half of the chances in the World Cup final in 2008, the Netherlands, not Spain, would have been crowned champions. If Robben had scored the penalty in overtime, Bayern Munich would have been crowned European champions. Robben is a great player who is yet to show his greatness when it really matters.


Drogba is the opposite of Robben. Drogba rises to the task in the matches in which champions are crowned. He not only scored the goal in regular time that placed his team in a position to win in overtime but he was the fifth shooter and with the game on the line triumphantly placed the ball in the back of the net.

Juan Mata choked on the first penalty but Bayern although poised to win, had two of their penalty kickers fail to connect. Lampard, Cole, and Luiz did not fail to connect. Drogba placed the icing on the cake.

Chelsea’s victory means Tottenham will not play in the Champion’s League next season as Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal will be the four teams to represent the English Premier League.

Will Di Matteo be the Chelsea coach next season? Roman Abramovich will decide whether to run with Di Matteo’s successful record or to venture into the unknown. Nonetheless, the expectation is that quite a few of the aging players will make their exodus from Chelsea and new talent will be seduced to bring new potency to enhance future success at Chelsea. Irrespective of what occurs next year, Chelsea can bask in the glory that they are champions of Europe in 2011-2012. Such a feat would not be possible without Didier Drogba.

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