African Debate: Cote D’Ivoire Bid Didier Drogba Good Bye

One issue hovering over the Ivorian national team at the moment is the absence of former captain Didier Drogba and its concomitant consequences. How will the team and fans adjust to the departure of a top finisher and national hero?

But worse on the issue is the strife Drogba’s exit is now provoking within the team’s set up. On Wednesday, Manchester City’s defender Kolo Touré was reported to have had a heated telephone conversation with an FA official from the West African country, following wide rumours the 29-year-old player was responsible for Drogba’s decision to boycott the Elephants henceforth.

Kolo was accusing the FA for propagating the news that his struggle to dethrone Drogba of the team’s captaincy led the Chelsea’s top scorer to abandon. But the FA insist they never told anyone anything. Consequently, Kolo, who had assumed the captaincy in the absence of Drogba has been stripped of it and given to Sevilla’s Didier Zokora aka Maestro.

How prepared are the Elephants ahead of Saturday’s encounter against Rwanda in Abidjan, considering these developments? Nobody is sure, but new coach François Zahoui assured all at a press conference Wednesday evening that his squad was cohesive enough to deliver a good result come 4 September.

Cote D’Ivoire’s national team is covertly at a crossroad at the moment. How will it operate without the charm of Drogba, known as the only and veritable scorer of the formation, adored by millions of fans some of whom wouldn’t rejoice over a goal not scored by Drogba? How will the coaching staff manage the realities bared by Drogba’s abandonment?

The game against Rwanda in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers will expose the true strength and status of the Elephants to all. How thick they really weight minus the Chelsea’s talisman? How many goals can they score all by themselves? Whose allure would pull thousands to stadium and enthral millions of others bending over their TV set?

A modest win against Rwanda would not be sufficient to quench after-match criticisms. They would say Drogba would have done more. Drogba would have filled the stadium. Drogba would have dispensed bigger and better joy to the people. They would accuse all – the FA, the players and some fans – for causing the 32-year-old good man to bow out of the Ivorian scene, too soon, too bad.

Zahoui’s major task will be to prove to all that Drogba is not indispensable to the team. That there is life, in abundance, beyond the curly-haired goal hunter whom many say Cote d’Ivoire would not reborn in decades to come.

However, as barracks are biggest than a soldier so are teams bigger than a player. Ivorians need to reconcile their emotions with the current situation to avoid being overtaken by time.

Forgetting about Drogba now might be hard but the sooner the better if our football must live!

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