Drogba retires from international football

[sals]

Haven't seen this posted anywhere else but very good news for Chelsea if this is true.

Didier Drogba Quits Cote D’Ivoire National Team

Chelsea talisman Didier Drogba will not make himself available for national duty with Cote d'Ivoire for the forseeable future.

The team’s new coach François Zahoui told reporters in Abidjan on Saturday, during his official presentation by the FA, that his recent meeting with the Premier League top scorer in London had not been fruitful.

Zahoui personally visited Drogba to summon him for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Rwanda on Saturday, but the Chelsea’s forward declined the call, giving more awful news of his departure.

“I truly met Drogba in London. He told me he was so tired that he wanted to withdraw from the national team for a while. Drogba is a world class player who is indispensable for the Elephants, but I had to respect his decision. We will let him rest to recover his mental and physical strength and pray he comes back some day to the national team,†Zahoui said.

However, sports analysts across the country are suggesting Drogba was leaving not because he was tired, like he said, but was simply frustrated with unending criticisms he is facing at the FA and in the team’s set-up.

But the FA president Jacques Anoma reassured there was no problem between the FA and the 32-year-old former captain of the Elephants.

http://www.goal.com/en/news/89/africa/2010/08/30/2094865/didier-drogba-quits-cote-divoire-national-team

[BlueNose]

Sad news,he was a proud captain and clearly loved pulling on the orange shirt,although this is more good news knowing that we wont have to worry about the african cup of nations as much

[amART]

less injury for him.

[BigIzz]

From a Chelsea perspective this is great news but would anyone be surprised if he played again down the road?

[mad_mac]

Yeah, think he'll hang out for a while and then maybe play again when he's close to retirement for us

[ethicalstrategy]

Hardly a retirement. He is just not available at the moment. I'm sure that will change.

[TheWestwayWonder]

Yup, I am sure he will be back for CIV sometime in future. But to have him a little more fit and recharged is a blessing

[PloKoon13]

I'm quite surprised about this, especially considering his commitment to the Ivory Coast and his significance to the team/country as a whole. Good news for us though.

[BluesBrothers]

That's good news :D