by Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was facing criticism last night after purportedly ‘going down too easily’ with malaria during his side’s defeat to Liverpool.
The Ivory Coast forward was waved to his feet by referee Howard Webb, despite his protestations that he had contracted the deadly tropical disease.
Replays proved inconclusive, with some camera angles seeming to show a small mosquito brushing against the leg of the striker.
The Chelsea man played on and managed to finish forty-five minutes in the most physically demanding and competitive league in the world, despite insisting that he had contracted a fatal disease.
Didier Drogba’s Malaria
The BBC’s Alan Green was scathing about the claim, “One minute he was on his feet; the next he was writhing around on the floor screaming that he’d been hit by malaria.”
“This is the disappointing thing about him – he’s such a big, powerful guy but he does tend to go down with things an awful lot.”
“He really should stay on his feet. Let’s face it – he’s over six foot whereas that insect was fucking tiny.”
Howard Webb refused to comment after the match, despite Drogba complaining to TV interviewers that he had been victim of a poor decision.
“I must have malaria, as I’m sweating a lot and there is a little bit of blood on my leg,” he insisted.
“Plus even if I didn’t have malaria, the referee should have stopped the game and given me a free kick, because for all he knew I might have had malaria, and one day I probably will get malaria during a promising attacking move by Chelsea, and then I’ll die in agony and you’ll all be sorry,” Drogba concluded.
