Drogba will need to lose selfish streak to claim sharpshooter prize
Published:He might have already nabbed a domestic double and the Premier League’s top goalscorer award after a dominant season at Chelsea, but Didier Drogba is not yet satisfied.
As reported today, Drogba has claimed that it would be “amazing” to finish as World Cup top scorer, and reckons that Ivory Coast have a “very strong” chance of winning the tournament altogether.
They are clearly the words of a confident man, hungry for more silverware. Not that it will come as a surprise to anyone who caught his theatrics on the final game of the Premier League season, when he threw a tantrum after Frank Lampard, rather than the golden boot-chasing Drogba, took the penalty that put Chelsea 2-0 up.
Despite it being a goal that all but sealed the title at Stamford Bridge, Drogba came across as a man more determined to secure personal glory than team success. In the end, all parties were happy (barring Man Utd fans of course), as Drogba notched a second-half hat-trick.
But if Drogba is to clinch personal glory on the world stage, history shows that his team are going to have to go far. For, not since the 1986 World Cup has the top scorer come from a side who didn’t make at least the semi-finals – when Gary Lineker notched six goals in Mexico despite England crashing out to Argentina in the quarter-final.
Since then, Golden Shoe winners Salvatore Schillaci, Hristo Stoichkov, Davor Suker, Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose have all played for sides who reached at least the semi-final – ensuring an all important extra game, in the shape of a third/fourth play-off or World Cup Final, in order to nab any prize-clinching goals.
So while we’re sure that Drogba will be in charge of penalty duty for his country anyway – he is captain after all – he could do worse than put the needs of his team ahead of his own. Just as it did with Chelsea, it’ll benefit him in the long run.
Do you think Didier Drogba can finish top scorer? He’s 25/1 to do so. See the full top tournament goalscorer market.
