Drogba enjoyed huge successes during his career, but his greatest achievement was not winning the Champions League or the Premier League with Chelsea, but rather putting an end to a civil war in his native country.
The story started in October 2005, when Ivory Coast faced Sudan in a World Cup qualifying match. They must win to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. To cut a long tale short, the Ivorians won their game and qualified for the World Cup. Soon after, the players celebrated, but it was not long before Drogba’s thoughts moved to the civil strife raging in his country.
Following the game, he speaks to the public: “Ivory Coast men and women. We showed today that all Ivorians can live and play together with the mutual objective of qualifying for the World Cup, coming from the north, south, center, and west. We assured you that the celebrations would bring the community together. The African country with so many resources must avoid civil conflict. Please put your arms down and hold elections.” Those words had a huge effect, eventually helping the two warring sides to the negotiating table where a ceasefire was signed.
While any Hollywood screenwriter would have been pleased with this conclusion, the narrative was not yet complete. Ivory Coast was eliminated in the group stage of the 2006 World Cup, losing to Argentina and the Netherlands before defeating Serbia and Montenegro. It was a solid first appearance. Drogba made an astonishing statement the following year, when touring the rebel-held part of his country, he announced that the Ivory Coast’s home match against Madagascar will be moved to Bouake, the symbolic center of the rebellion. Just two years ago, this would have been unthinkable. It was an attempt to reunite the country, as he was from the south.
On the pitch, any notion that the script would not be a fairytale was dispelled when Salomon Kalou tapped in on 18 minutes. The goals kept coming. With just five minutes to go, and with Ivory Coast leading 4–0, the stage was set for the spectacular finale everybody had hoped for. A lofted ball from midfield dropped behind the defense, into the path of the onrushing Drogba. Delicate control and a delightful second touch took the ball into the net, followed by the explosion of noise that defied the stadium’s modest capacity. The country’s messiah wheeled along the running track in celebration, players, and supporters streaming in his wake. Above him in the stands, old adversaries celebrated together. The final whistle brought fans rushing onto the pitch, with security personnel forming protective screens around the players, most of all Drogba. The symbolic gesture of the game in Bouake seemed to have united a country once again.
However, what happened next was regrettably very different. With deep divisions and short memories, the joy around those two matches began to evaporate. Only five years later, violence erupted in the nation again following disputed elections, killing 3,000 people and ending in the arrest of President Gbagbo and his subsequent conviction at the Hague for crimes against humanity.
Ivory Coast’s ‘golden generation’ never lived up to their full potential, losing on penalties in the African Cup of Nations finals in 2006 and 2012. As a result, their star power faded. Perhaps it was just difficult to follow up on the 2005 and 2007 seismic events. But he and his teammates were responsible for something far more significant than football triumph. They give their beleaguered country a reason to hope. The Ivory Coast national team, with Drogba as its spokesperson and leader, managed to bring peace to the Ivory Coast even if it was not to last.