Didier Drogba Biography

Though superstar, Didier Drogba, joined the ranks of the top soccer players later than most, he came in hard, and his immense goal scoring ability has secured him a place among the greats.

Childhood

Born into a harsh environment on March 11, 1978 in the Ivory Coast, Didier Drogba struggled in his early years. His family was poor, and they had to work hard for anything they had.

However, when he was only five years of age, his family moved to France. Upon arriving, he was sent to Brest, France to live with his uncle who was a professional soccer player at the time.

After three years he returned home, only to be sent back due to both his parents losing their jobs.

In the short time that he was with his parents, he played soccer everyday in a car park in the city.

Drogba loved soccer as a child and spent a lot of time working hard to become the player that he is today.

Kicking Off

Finally, at the age of 15, Drogba returned to living with his parents, and signed a contract with the semi-professional soccer club, Levallois.

After finishing school, he received a huge opportunity to step up to a second division soccer club called Le Mans. He immediately signed on.

In his first two seasons with Le Mans he missed a lot due to injuries. In the following two, he had trouble keeping up with the club schedule, due to family issues.

By this time he was 23 years old, and he began looking for a way to make it into top soccer leagues.

Finally, about halfway through his fifth season with the club (2001-02), Didier Drogba was picked up by a first division club, Guingamp.

In his first season with the club, he was not bad, but he failed to impress the coaching squad.

Regardless, he did not fail in the following season as he scored an impressive 17 goals in 34 appearances.

Then, at the age of 25, he found himself switching clubs again, this time to a top French club, Marseile. He had finally made it!

Marseile

Drogba began his first season with Marseile in 2003.

He was only with the club for one season, but while he was there, he won Ligue de Football Professionnel's Player of the Year and rose to one of the top players in the squad.

At the end of the 2003-04 season came the biggest step in Didier Drogba's soccer career.

He was picked up by the huge, English soccer club, Chelsea!

Chelsea

Chelsea is where Drogba finally received his full recognition.

In Chelsea's first season with this new striker, they won the league title for the first time in 50 years. They followed by winning again in the following season.

However, it was not until his third season that Drogba fully made his name. He won the Golden Boot and finished the season with a total of 33 goals!

From there Didier Drogba continued to thrive in the English league. His style fit perfectly to the aggressive English style of soccer.

Drogba continues to play for Chelsea to this day. He is now considered to be one of the greatest players on his superstar-studded team, as well as being among the great soccer players of today.