Sport : Football

DROGBA RELISHING WEMBLEY RETURN

5th May 2012, 07:13am

Drogba: 'Maybe Wembley is our lucky stadium'

Drogba: 'Maybe Wembley is our lucky stadium'

Didier Drogba has admitted he feels "like a kid" every time he scores a winning goal at Wembley.

Chelsea striker Drogba has known that feeling more than any other player since the stadium was rebuilt in 2007, having found the net in every one of his seven competitive appearances there.

And the man who netted the winner in both the 2007 and 2010 FA Cup final would love nothing better than to make it a hat-trick against Liverpool later today.

"I feel like a kid, feel like a kid scoring a winning goal," said Drogba.

"We were practising free-kicks out on the pitches today and, with the last free-kick, Ramires scored and he reacted like a kid would react.

"It's the same feeling for everyone, scoring a goal in a big game, a final, it's a dream."

Drogba dreamt of playing at Wembley since he was a child, recalling watching the 1996 final between Manchester United and Liverpool.

He said: "My dream was to play at the old Wembley, where I saw all those big games: from Chelsea; when Eric Cantona - one of my favourite players - scored that goal there.

"So that was my dream. But I'm quite happy with the new one."

Drogba seems to come alive at the world's "most famous" football cathedral.

"I haven't been to the Maracana, but Wembley is, for me, the most famous one," he said.

"We've had some good results there. We won, I think, all our FA Cup finals there, so it's a good stadium for us. Maybe it's our lucky stadium.

"I feel comfortable on this pitch.

"When I decided I wanted to play football when I was young, I wanted to play in big stadiums like this."

Today could be Drogba's last chance to do so.

"I hope not," said the 34-year-old, who looks destined to leave Chelsea when his contract expires this summer.

The Blues did not consider him worthy of more than a one-year extension and he said: "People forget I started football late.

"At a high level, I only really started when I was 25 or 26, so I feel fresh, I feel good, I want to play."

No-one has done more than Drogba to propel Chelsea to both the FA Cup and Champions League finals at the end of a season in which he has dealt with more than one serious injury.

He said: "I think there are no miracles. The knock I had to my head against Norwich was very hard, very difficult.

"I had a lot of problems after that.

"Then I decided to take my time and work on my arm, which was broken before the World Cup back in 2010.

"I wanted to get that right so did some work on it, some surgery on the screws in my arm.

"So I took my time to come back fresh and good, and the African Cup of Nations helped me a lot to get me back to fitness.

"When I came back here, I had a chance to play and show that, I may be 34, but I'm still young, I'm still fresh. I've still got some kilometres in my legs."

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