Didier Drogba ended his long career Thursday at age 40 on a 1-0 loss to Phoenix against Louisville in the final of the US 2nd Division Football Championship (USL).
The former Ivorian international could do nothing to get out of business Phoenix face a rough team Louisville, already crowned in 2017, who scored the only goal of the meeting in the 62nd minute. Sign of his frustration, Drogba was given a warning in the 73rd minute of play for contestation.
While Phoenix made the Louisville goal siege in the final, he tried, unsuccessfully, two minutes from the end of regulation time a back-stunt.
Drogba, considered one of the best African football players in history, played his last game in front of 5,300 spectators at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky. He defended since 2017 the colors of Phoenix, a club of which he is a shareholder, after a season and a half spent in the North American elite, the MLS, with Montreal (2015-16). He finished the final season of his career with seven goals in thirteen games, including three in four playoffs.
Drogba, who has traveled to France, England, China and Turkey, won four league titles and the 2012 UEFA Champions League with Chelsea, his club from 2004 to 2012 and in 2014-15.
He is with 65 goals in 104 selections the top scorer in the history of Ivory Coast that he led to three World Cup finals (2006, 2010, 2014) and two finals, lost, of the Cup of Africa of Nations (2006, 2012).