The Amazing Drogba

I was going to write this blog as a celebration of an amazing upset.  But alas, a great team is greater than a great player, and Brazil defeated Ivory Coast 3-1.   Like I said in an earlier blog, Didier Drogba is my favorite soccer player.  The reason why has very little to do with soccer.  Drogba is a phenomenal player. He is one of the greatest African players of all time and probably the best active player from that continent.  He is a star on a very good Chelsea team.  And today he became the first African player ever to score a goal against Brazil in a World Cup.  But like I said, I don't like Drogba because of soccer.  I like Drogba because he is quite possibly the most amazing humanitarian playing the game.  In 2006, Didier Drogba and the Ivory Coast soccer team stopped a civil war in their country.  That is right, they stopped a war!  Ivory Coast had been embroiled in a civil war since 2002.  There was a peace settlement in 2004, but by 2006 conditions had once again turned for the worst.  And then Ivory Coast qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.  Drogba and his teammates pleaded with both sides to stop the violence so the nation could enjoy the tournament in peace.  And they did!  Because of their pleas, both sides in the war returned to peace talks.  And then in 2008, Drogba was instrumental in having an African Cup game played in the rebel stronghold of Bouake.  This game marked the first time that both armies in the war had engaged in a non-violent activity together.  Incredibly, Drogba does more for humanity than just stop wars.  In 2007, Drogba was appointed by the United Nations as a Goodwill Ambassador due to his charity work and devotion to improving the African continent.  In 2009, he received 3 million British pounds for doing a Pepsi comercial.  He donated this entire fee to build a hospital in his hometown in Ivory Coast.  And he convinced his soccer team, Chelsea, to donate their portion of his fee too!  We spend so much of our time as sports fan hearing stories about the bad guys in sports, the Tiger Woods and Ben Rothlisbergers of the world.  It is nice to know that there are also athletes who have used their fame and fortune to make the world a better place.  Didier Drogba is my favorite player because he is an incredible individual and a role model for us all.

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Best and Worst of the World Cup So Far

This year's Cup has more up and down then most cups. So naturally, there have been a lot of high and low points.  Here are a few:

Best- South Africa scoring the first goal of the Cup- Since they are probably the weakest host country in Cup history, everyone was very concerned with how the Bafana Bafana would fare. They quieted their critics by jumping out to a lead versus Mexico.

Worst- South Africa losing 3-0 to Uruguay: It seems as if their critics were right after all, as Bafana Bafana got rocked in today's and will need a miracle to have any shot at making it out of group play.

Best - Drogba coming into the game for Ivory Coast in the 65th minute- This is easily my favorite moment so far. When Drogba came on the pitch, it wasn't just Ivory Coast who was picked up. It was like he was carrying the hopes of an entire continent.  The noise level of the vuvuzelas was simply incredible.  He represents their best chance at earning a title and I really hope he can fulfill this goal.  Plus, Drogba is an absolutely incredible human being and my favorite soccer player (and I have a small man-crush on him).

Worst- Cristiano Ronaldo flopping-  As much as I like Drogba, I dislike Cristiano Ronaldo.  He is easily the most gifted player in the world and yet he resorts to blatant flopping to try and draw calls.  He reminds me of a young A-Rod, supremely talented but too immature to handle competing as the best in the world.  I just wish Drogba could have been at full strength so he could have led Ivory Coast to the win over Portugal.

Best- USA soccer being for real-   If you remove the whole African hosting story from the Cup, then the biggest story is that this is the time when America is really giving soccer a chance.  And if this Cup doesn't succeed in securing America's interest, it will probably be quite some time before soccer has another opportunity.  Our play versus England went a long way towards securing soccer's status as a mainstream sport in America.  I only hope this trend can continue.

Worst- Robert Green's flubbed save- As great as it was that the USA tied England, this blown save is still the worst on the field moment this tournament.  There are very moments in sports where we as normal people know that we really could have done better than the athlete.  This is one of those moments.  Robert Green is a better goalie than any of my readers or myself (all 4 of you) could dream of being.  But on this play, we could have all made the save that he could not.

Best- The vuvuzelas-  There has been an incredible amount of complaining about these African trumpet-like instruments.  But let me say as an uneducated soccer fan (read: average American) I love them!  Instruments like the vuvuzela are exactly what home field advantage is all about.  Worried about ear damage?  Then don't go to the game!  80,000 screaming African fans will still be there.  When we signed on for an African World Cup, we got all of Africa, not just the parts we like.  

Worst - The strike that almost stopped the Brazil - North Korea match- I'm not sure how many people have heard this story, but apparently some of the stadium workers refused to work because they were paid less than they were promised.  I'm not offering an opinion about whether the workers or management were wrong. All I am saying is get the damn issue worked out behind the scenes.  The entire globe is focused on South Africa right now and a story like this one is just stupid.

And since the World Cup is awesome, I will include one more Best (with no Worst to go with it):

Best- North Korea holding its own versus Brazil- I know they are our enemy, but the Boise State (and Butler bandwagon) fan in me has to cheer for the little guy.  And there is no guy littler in this Cup than North Korea.  Plus, by avoiding a blowout, we can feel comfortable knowing that no North Korean players or their families are going to be punished in anyway.  And finally, since North Korea didn't provide them with much of a budget, they had to train in a public gym in South Africa (http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2010/06/kim-jong-il-and-the-north-korean-world-cup-squad/58171/).  This team can't help but warm your heart to one of the great evils of our world.