Didier Drogba joined the Montreal Impact on July 27th, 2015, the club now renamed to CF Montreal. For consistency purposes, the graphics will use current day logos, though Drogba is the first name that comes to mind when seeing the old Impact logo. Like many other MLS legends, Didier Drogba did not stay in MLS for a long period of time. His impact (pun intended), though, was immense. He made his debut on August 22nd, subbing on for Dilly Duka in a 1-0 loss against the Philadelphia Union. Just two weeks later, he made a historic first start for Montreal.
Just about eight years ago, Drogba became the first player in history to score a hat trick in his first MLS start on September 5th against the Chicago Fire. It was also a perfect hat trick, he scored the first with his right foot, second with his left foot, and the third with his head. While his next start went goalless, he found the back of the net in five consecutive starts. He scored against New England, then once again against Chicago the next time out. He simply overpowered iconic MLS center back Jeff Larentowicz before heading Montreal into the lead. Days later against DC United, Drogba scored a brace, including this sublime chip of Bill Hamid. The Drogba magic certainly did not end there, a few matches later he lit up the Canadian Classique against Toronto FC. His first of the night was another astonishing goal in the form of a first-time back-heel. The latter half of his brace was a mind-blowing flick, coming just over a minute after his previous goal. Four days later, the Canadian Classique took place in the playoffs. Sure enough, Didier Drogba was there to score another goal via a perfect assist from Patrice Bender. The playoff run ultimately came to a screeching halt after a 4-1 second leg loss to Columbus, 5-3 on aggregate. Drogba had scored 11 goals in 11 matches.
Drogba fell short of the 2015 Newcomer of the Year award, he probably would've won it most years with ease if not for Sebastian Giovinco. He did earn September's Player of the Month award. In 2016, Drogba didn't reach the same sort of scoring success, but he did come out firing. Half of his goals in 2016 came in a one-month span, where he scored one goal in five consecutive games. Unfortunately, only one of those matches ended in victory. Regardless, his goals were highlight worthy. On April 30th, he scored a curling free kick against Colorado. On May 14th, a screaming volley just over two minutes in against Philadelphia. On May 28th, a powerful free kick that found its way in to defeat LA Galaxy in minute 94. In July, Drogba scored a hat trick against Philadelphia just before the all-star break, including three of his easier MLS goals. In the MLS All-Star game, he scored an equalizer against Arsenal. The remainder of Drogba's MLS career was less eventful, but he had already produced one of the greatest highlight reels in just 33 matches.
His Montreal career did not end on the highest of notes, he refused to play a match after Mauro Biello didn't start him against Toronto FC. The 2016 MLS Playoffs were played mostly without Didier Drogba. He did not play the first match due to a lingering back injury and his morale. The next three playoff games he appeared as a substitute, for just 10, 19, and 47 minutes respectively. The two-legged series between Montreal and Toronto in 2016 may just be the greatest playoff series in MLS history. Montreal won the first match 3-2, but Toronto took leg two 5-2 after extra time. Toronto advanced to, and lost, the MLS Cup Final after that match.
Didier Drogba wasted absolutely no time showing his quality when arriving in MLS. He did not even play the equivalent of a 34-match regular season across his two seasons in Montreal, yet posted incredible statistics. He will forever be one of the greatest players to grace Major League Soccer. The sheer fact that Drogba made it to #91 in the ranking in just 33 matches showcases how dominant he was.
YEAR | CLUB | MINUTES | GOALS | ASSISTS |
2016 | MTL | 1,650 | 10 | 6 |
2015 | MTL | 870 | 11 | 1 |
Despite the name of the player, he isn’t worthy if the list. If you don‘t play the equivalent of a single season you can’t be one of the top 100 players. Sorry.