Didier Drogba Is Joining A USL Team In Phoenix– As A Player AND An Owner
Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty
When Didier Drogba came to Major League Soccer two years ago, it caused something of a minor scandal. By the league’s arcane and inscrutable player acquisition rules, the Chicago Fire had dibs on Drogba, and by all accounts the club really wanted him, both for his star power and because the team was in desperate need of a proven goalscorer. But despite the Fire’s supposedly air-tight claim on his MLS playing rights, Drogba ended up signing with the Montreal Impact. The city’s Francophone population and culture was supposedly the main draw, but more to the point, Drogba, like Jermaine Jones the year before, really just didn’t want to go to Chicago. The Fire ended up getting some MLS funny money for their troubles, but it ended up cementing the club’s reputation as the kid who never gets picked for kickball at recess.
Drogba has since moved on from Montreal and his new gig follows the same logic. The former Chelsea striker wanted to live and work somewhere that reminded him of home, and what better place than the Paris of the Southwest, Arizona’s Alouette, that world-renowned center of art and culture.
I’m referring, of course, to Phoenix.
Phoenix Rising FC, formerly Arizona United, is a USL club founded just three years ago. Though the club be small, as is their 6000-ish capacity stadium in Tempe, their aspirations are mighty. The ownership group includes such luminary figures as Diplo, LA Dodgers pitcher Brandon McCarthy, Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz, and assorted individuals with money to burn.