Didier Drogba: 'I Am Not Crazy About Scoring Goals'

Posted Friday, May 14, 2010 by Goal.com

Penalty dispute with Frank Lampard seemingly an illusion.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has revealed his delight at a season which has seen the Blues win their first Premier League title since 2006.

Drogba has scored 36 goals in 43 games for the Blues this season, with one more chance to add to his tally as Chelsea face Portsmouth in the FA Cup final on Saturday. And the 32-year-old says he knew he was going to have a good campaign from the very beginning of pre-season.

"It is one to remember," Drogba acknowledged to the club's official website.

"I think it started with pre-season, I had a good pre-season and I knew that with that I would have a lot of chance for a good season.

"I was really excited about this one coming and I think now I can say it is the best season I had so far."<广告>

Despite his goalscoring form, Drogba needed a hat-trick on the final day against Wigan Athletic to clinch the Premier League top scorer's award ahead of Manchester United's Wayne Rooney. Drogba was so keen on winning the award that he seemed to get involved in a dispute with Frank Lampard about the taker of a first-half penalty — sulking when the Englishman took, and scored, it — but the Ivorian now insists that, unlike other strikers, scoring goals isn't what motivates him.

"The goals are not my objective, that is to win trophies with Chelsea," Drogba stated.

"If a goal comes it is good, but last season I did not score a lot but I was really happy with the season we had.

"I am not crazy about scoring goals, that's the difference between me and other strikers.

"I am also happy when I create goals and this season had a lot of assists, sometimes celebrating more than the goalscorer because I was just happy with my assist."

Nevertheless, Drogba's contribution this season was notable for the number of goals he scored in important games — notching on multiple occasions against Arsenal, and scoring the winner against Manchester United at Old Trafford — although he is quick to point out his real success was in performing at a consistently high level even in the lesser games.

"You know when there is big games I think the motivation is always high, it is more important and you have to have your concentration," he said.

"I don't know how to explain it but I love big games and I want to perform. You have to enjoy these games, they are like Champions League games.

"The difference this season is I performed in big games but also those that are not as big, so that's why I think my season is complete."

Finally, Drogba discussed his honor at being named among TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in the world last week, calling it the most significant of all the awards he has received this year.

"Yes, this is the most important one because it is not simply football, it is related to football but it is for the man I am, not only the football player," Drogba said, before talking about the progress of his foundation's work back in his hometown of Abidjan.

"We want to start laying the foundations for the hospital straight after the World Cup and carry on trying to raise funds because the important thing is not only to build the hospital but also to run it, that's why we are organizing things, we want to do it in a good way, not rush," Drogba said.