MONTREAL – Having famously sulked at a penalty kick snub by then-Chelsea teammate Frank Lampard six years earlier, Montreal Impact striker Didier Drogba had plenty of perspective to draw on as he observed the mid-match meltdown by Columbus Crew SC stars Kei Kamara and Federico Higuain on Saturday.
Drogba offered his advice to Kamara when he and Higuain fought over who would take a penalty kick. At the time, Columbus led 3-1 on a brace by Kamara and Higuain's first of the game.
"I said to Kamara to stay calm and it's OK, to get over it, you know, that's life," Drogba said after Impact practice Wednesday.
Higuain ultimately took the kick and scored to put Crew SC up by three in the 53rd minute, but Montreal roared back with three straight goals to earn a 4-4 draw.
Kamara was suspended by the Crew for his postgame tirade, directed mainly at Higuain. He would have done well to listen to Drogba's advice, since he was talking from experience.
It was May 9, 2010. Chelsea held a 1-0 lead on Wigan Athletic in their final Premier League game of the season. Drogba was level with Manchester United's Wayne Rooney in the race for the Golden Boot, awarded to the league's top goalscorer. But when Chelsea earned their first PK, Lampard (now with New York City FC) refused to yield the spot to his teammate.
"I asked him like weeks before and he said, 'yeah, you are going to take it.' But in the moment he decided not to give it to me and I was pissed and I went in the middle of the pitch," Drogba recalled.
"He took the penalty, he scored, but then he came right to me and said, 'Come on, you know that you're my man,' and that's it. And the fact that he came, I know that it's just his mentality. The winner, the guy who wants to score, the guy who wants to win, and that's it."
As much as he wanted Drogba to win the Golden Boot, Lampard had his eyes on the team prize when he stepped up to the spot as Chelsea's regular penalty taker. With Manchester United just one point behind at the top of the table, a win was crucial to ensure the Blues' first Premiership title in four years.
Drogba said he soon put the slight behind him in order to focus on contributing to a team victory, and Lampard helped him take the first step toward his second Golden Boot. The Ivorian striker scored a second-half hat trick to finish with 29 goals and send Chelsea on to an 8-0 win.
"I was pissed for 15 big minutes, but after in the second half I came back and he gave me my first goal, fantastic assist, and I scored three goals and then I won it," Drogba said. "You know, this is the spirit. You can get mad, but then after that the game is still going on so you need to be ready."
As for the dispute between Kamara and Higuain, Drogba was glad Montreal could profit from their opponents' squabble.
"I think at the end of the day we are happy because we managed to get a result from that, so I'm not here to solve their problems," Drogba said. "They have things to deal with."
