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Chelsea striker Didier Drogba: Cote d'Ivoire have shown character at 2012 Afcon
The Blues' talismanic forward praised his team-mates for putting up a strong fight in the continental showpiece, leading them to the semi-final stage
By Kent Mensah
The forward insisted it is about time the Elephants broke their 20 years continental trophy drought and said sustaining the tempo will be key to earning them their second tournament prize.
The Chelsea talisman missed a penalty in their quarter-final game against co-hosts Equatorial Guinea but recovered quickly to slot in two goals which gave his side the win. He was grateful to his colleagues for spurring him on.
“My team-mates encouraged me and were very supportive,” the 33-year-old said. “I had to get back in the game and I owe them these goals. I'm glad I did it for them and I am proud of my team-mates.”
“In 2006, we were in the final and lost. In 2008, we scored many goals but failed to reach the final. Here we have shown character,” Drogba said.
The Elephants will square off with Mali on Wednesday in the semi-finals.
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"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
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