Claim: Didier Drogba is a professional footballer.

Didier Yves Drogba Tébily -LRB- -LSB- didje dʁɔɡba -RSB- ; born 11 March 1978 -RRB- is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a striker for American club Phoenix Rising FC . He is the all-time top scorer and former captain of the Ivory Coast national team . He is best known for his career at Chelsea , for whom he has scored more goals than any other foreign player and is currently the club 's fourth highest goal scorer of all time . He has been named African Footballer of the Year twice , winning the accolade in 2006 and 2009 .   After playing in youth teams , Drogba made his professional debut aged 18 for Ligue 2 club Le Mans , and signed his first professional contract aged 21 . After finishing the 2002 -- 03 season with 17 goals in 34 appearances for Ligue 1 side Guingamp , he moved to Olympique de Marseille , where he finished as the third highest scorer in the 2003 -- 04 season with 19 goals and helped the club reach the 2004 UEFA Cup Final .   In the summer of 2004 , Drogba moved to Premier League club Chelsea for a club record # 24 million fee , making him the most expensive Ivorian player in history . In his debut season he helped the club win their first league title in 50 years , and a year later he won another Premier League title . In March 2012 , he became the first African player to score 100 Premier League goals , and also became the only player in history to score in four separate FA Cup finals the same year , when he scored in Chelsea 's win over Liverpool in the 2012 final . He also played in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final , in which he scored an 88th-minute equaliser and the winning penalty in the deciding shoot-out against Bayern Munich . After spending 6 months with Shanghai Shenhua in China , and one and a half seasons with Turkish club Galatasaray where he scored the winning goal in the final of the 2013 Turkish Super Cup , Drogba returned to Chelsea in July 2014 . With a career record of scoring 10 goals in 10 finals winning 10 trophies at club level , Drogba has been referred to as the `` ultimate big game player . ''   An Ivory Coast international between 2002 and 2014 , Drogba captained the national team from 2006 until his retirement from the Ivory Coast team and is the nation 's all-time top goalscorer with 65 goals from 104 appearances . He led the Ivory Coast to the 2006 FIFA World Cup , their first appearance in the tournament , and also scored their first goal . He later captained the Ivory Coast at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups . He was part of the Ivory Coast teams that reached the final of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006 and 2012 , but were beaten on penalties on both occasions . On 8 August 2014 , he announced his retirement from international football .