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PREPARING SOUTH AFRICA FOR THE WORLD |
Didier Drogba is one of the world's most prolific strikers in the world. He signed up for Olympique de Marseille in 2003 for £3.3 before moving to Chelsea in 2005 for a record breaking fee of £24 million. In the 2006 World Cup, he scored Côte d'Ivoire's first ever goal of the competition and he was chosen as the 2006 African Footballer of the Year. The next season he finished as top scorer in the 2006-07 Premier League with 20 goals and also scored the winning goal in the 2007 FA Cup Final. Away from the pitch, Drogba is known for his charity work and was appointed by the United Nations Development Programme as a Goodwill Ambassador in 2007. During a visit to South Africa for the Confederations Cup, he spoke exclusively with FIFA.com...  You seem to be in your element here, among people who are warm, smiling and enthusiastic despite their problems and the sometimes difficult conditions they live in. Those are just simple things that I'm used to. We're in a world where the stakes and demands are high at every level, and sometimes we get caught up in all that despite ourselves. That's why an event like this which involves children helps us get back to what's important, back to our values and back to simple things. Your stay in South Africa coincided with the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. What did you make of the tournament? I followed the competition with interest and I found the level of play to be very good. I really enjoyed what the United States achieved: they were a team no one was expecting much from but they created an upset and found themselves in the final after beating the best team in Europe. Hats off to them! What did you make of the welcome and atmosphere South Africa provided over the course of the tournament? The organisation is superb. And in the stadiums, even if it's a bit chilly, you very quickly forget the winter coolness. The atmosphere is magnificent, people sing together and they're happy and welcoming. It's been a very good rehearsal for the 2010 World Cup. Indeed, you must be hoping to return here next year. Côte d'Ivoire have started well in Group E of the African qualifiers with three wins from three games, but can things still go wrong? We're on the right track, but everything can change very quickly and there's nothing stopping us from ending up with a completely different set of results in the second half of the campaign. However, we now have enough experience to manage this situation and get the one or two victories which would open the doors to the 2010 World Cup for us. What does it mean to you and to the continent in general that the FIFA World Cup will be held in Africa for the first time? It's a chance for the African continent to show another side of itself to the one people usually see, by which I mean war or poverty. It's a chance to prove that we're capable of bringing joy and happiness to the whole world. And, above all, that we're capable of organising an event as important as the World Cup, because the goal is that there'll be others to follow it. more interviews... |
