Drogba delighted after banishing Moscow pain

MUNICH – An hour or so after the final whistle, Didier Drogba took his seat, holding his man-of-the-match award and tried to make sense of all of the different emotions. There was just a shake of the head to begin with. “I don’t think there are actually the words to describe how I feel,” he said.Drogba’s mind back went to 2008 and the penalty shootout defeat to Manchester United when he had been sent off.“In Moscow it was very difficult, very painful for the club, and tonight we have put that behind us. We gave everything. It was written, I think, a long time ago.I’ve been at this club for eight years and we’ve always been so near yet so far. Now, at least, we have this cup. It’s coming back with us to Stamford Bridge and that’s the best feeling ever.”This was some way for Drogba to say his goodbyes to Chelsea if it is true that he will leave the club this summer.“I was confident,” he said of his decisive kick in the penalty shootout, “but before I went to take it I started thinking about what happened in the African Cup of Nations when I could have won the final for my team [Ivory Coast] and missed. It was very hard but at the same time I was thinking I had to score when Petr Cech had made all his saves. When we have this guy in goal you have to believe.“I wanted to score for him and my other team-mates. I wanted to make Chelsea smile compared to the other time when we were all down and crying.”Drogba made a point of citing Ashley Cole’s goalline clearance against Napoli, at 3-1 down in the first leg, as “the turning point of the season”.Later, Roberto Di Matteo would also reflect on that moment at Stadio San Paolo in the first knockout stage, at a time when he was still André Villas-Boas’s assistant. “At 4-1, that would have been it done.”The match-winner and the victorious manager were more reluctant to discuss their own positions. “I don’t know what the future will hold,” Di Matteo said when asked whether he wanted to remain at Stamford Bridge. “I’m just happy we have won. It’s a historic night for this club.”

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Drogba delighted after banishing Moscow pain