Didier Drogba made a triumphant return to the Ivory Coast national team during the friendly match against Mexico. Despite the comeback of the Galatasaray striker, Ivory Coast suffered a defeat to the Aztecs with a scoreline of 4-1.
Drogba had not featured for the Ivory Coast team since the CAN 2013 tournament. At 35 years old, the former Marseille player donned the orange jersey for the first time since the quarter-final loss in Nigeria on February 3. Notably, he did not participate in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers with the Elephants.
Sabri Lamouchi’s squad has nearly secured qualification for the final round of qualifiers for the Brazilian World Cup. In an interview with L’Equipe, the former Chelsea striker discussed the upcoming match against Morocco in the last group fixture at the beginning of September. He also reflected on his season’s start with Galatasaray.
Drogba stated, “Even though we have already secured our qualification for the last phase of the qualifiers, we will try to deliver a strong performance against Morocco to best prepare for the upcoming matches. We are entering the home stretch, and it’s not the time to relax. We aspire to go to Brazil next year, but the journey is still quite extensive. Nothing is guaranteed, and there is one last step to secure a ticket for the World Cup.”
Speaking about his current form, Drogba mentioned, “I’m in pretty good shape and, above all, very happy to have started the season by winning a trophy with my club. I feel better and better in the team, and I believe we can have a truly successful season. The club managed to retain its top players and made interesting signings, including Aurélien Chedjou, while keeping Felipe Melo.”
