Drogba confirms Ballon d'Or role as he comes face-to-face with ex-Chelsea foe
Didier Drogba has announced he will be presenting the Ballon d'Or at Monday evening's ceremony, which will see him come face-to-face with former rival Lionel Messi.
Taking to social media, Drogba posed with the Paris backdrop behind him, and confirmed that he would be presenting at the event. Three players have the chance to get their hands on football's most prestigious individual prize, with Messi, Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe all nominated.
Despite both Haaland and Mbappe impressing at club level, it is expected - and even leaked - that it will be Messi who comes away with an historic eighth Ballon d'Or after leading Argentina to the World Cup last December.
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Argentina defeated Mbappe's France 4-2 on penalties in the final in Qatar after the two sides drew 3-3 after 120 minutes of football. On the back of the historic victory Messi is set to get his hands on the award in Paris, but he could well be set for an awkward encounter.
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Drogba's Chelsea and Messi's Barcelona infamously clashed in the semi-final of the 2009 Champions League, where the Spanish side controversially prevailed in at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were left outraged with referee Tom Henning Øvrebø, who waved away four strong penalty claims for the home side.
Despite drawing on the night, Chelsea bowed out on aggregate following a late strike from Andreas Iniesta. Just minutes after the Spaniard's equaliser, the Blues looked to have found a way back into it after Samuel Eto'o handled in the area, but there was nothing doing for referee Øvrebø who was then confronted by a furious Michael Ballack in the aftermath.
Didier Drogba famously took aim at the official at Stamford BridgeMoments later the Norwegian referee brought the tie to an end and whilst Messi and co celebrated, a number of Chelsea players confronted the official led by captain John Terry. Most famously Drogba was then heard crying: "It is a f****** disgrace!" down the TV cameras after was dragged down the tunnel by his Chelsea teammates.
Three years on from their heartbreak at the hands of Messi and his fellow Barcelona stars, Drogba and Chelsea finally prevailed in Europe after defeating Bayern Munich on penalties in the 2012 final, with Drogba scoring the deciding spot-kick. Reminiscing on that fateful loss in 2009, the Ivorian told Canal+: "I told him [Øvrebø] it was a disgrace and that people would remember him.
"I was restrained but I wanted to say certain things to him, but I would never strike a referee. It was like a movie, a script from a movie." Having won the Champions League three years on though, Drogba did admit he had finally forgiven the official. He’s lucky I won the Champions League later though," he added.
"There’s no hard feelings. Time takes its toll. Later on I met some Barça players from that game. They told me they did not know or understand what happened that night. Nobody did.“
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