Didier Drogba scored Chelsea's
goal and their winning Champions League penalty against Bayern
Munich on Saturday and then solemnly appeared to say his
farewells.
The 34-year-old Ivory Coast striker capped his eight years
in London by lifting the trophy that his boss Roman Abramovich
has longed for since buying the club in 2003. Then he was named
man of the match.
But the big striker, who has failed to reach agreement with
the club over a new contract, accepted the accolade with what
sounded like a valedictory speech and side-stepped questions
about his future.
"I don't think we can take decisions in emotional moments
like this. The most important thing is not my future, the most
important thing is what we achieved today," he told reporters
after the astonishing victory.
"I want to say thank you to all the players I've been
playing with since I've been here and all the managers. They
have improved me as a player and as a person."
The exuberant Ivorian, who delighted fans and worried club
security by dancing on the roof of the team bus when Chelsea won
their first English title in 50 years in his first season at the
club, said he just felt very happy.
"Today it's a great day for the club, for our fans, for the
players. I don't really know if there's enough words to
describe how I feel now," he said.
The striker has developed a knack of scoring in finals,
hitting home in Chelsea's 2-1 FA Cup final over Liverpool
earlier this month, when he became the first man in the FA Cup
to score in four finals.
But Saturday's 88th-minute header against the run of play
after Bayern had gone ahead five minutes earlier, wiped out the
misery of Chelsea's defeat on penalties four years ago against
Manchester United in Moscow, when he was sent off.
"In Moscow it was very difficult. It was very painful for
the players, for the club and the fans and today we managed to
change all that in an amazing game, equalising in the last
minutes and then with the penalty shootout," he said.
Drogba, demonstrative and histrionic on the pitch as he is
quietly courteous and softly spoken off it, has divided opinion
in English football, but few would deny his impact on the game
during the time that Chelsea have won two English titles four FA
Cups and now the Champions League.
He said he had felt calm and confident taking the last
penalty despite missing one earlier this year in the Africa Cup of
Nations final.
"Before going to take it I still had in my head what happened
in the African Nations Cup where I could have won the cup for my
country.
"At the same time Petr Cech was a fantastic goalkeeper and he
kept us in it. So when I stepped up I went to score for him and
for my team-mates. I went to make Chelsea smile after we had
been so down in Moscow.
"That was the last kick of the season and what a way to do
it."
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