Cote d’Ivoire skipper Didier Drogba has made it clear. He could hang up his boots at the international level even without achieving his Africa Cup of Nations glory dream.
Didier Drogba finished behind compatriot Yaya Toure in the 2012 CAF African Footballer of the Year award. He was in no mood to talk about club football issues in the aftermath of Thursday’s CAF Awards Gala in Accra as the night was dedicated to Africa and African football.

The 2012 FA Cup and Champions League winner hinted at the possibility of retiring in future even without winning the Africa Cup of Nations with Cote d’Ivoire. Speaking exclusively to LiveSoccerTV.com, the China-based superstar explained:

“It’s true that it’s rewarding to win a big competition like the Africa Cup of Nations before retiring from international football. However, there are many African who won this CAF Award without clinching the Cup of Nations and this is not a big deal.”

Indeed, one of the major things the 34-year-old lacks in his trophy room is a Cup of Nations medal. Last year in Gabon-Equatorial Guinea, Drogba was a match away from fulfilling his task as skipper of the Elephants. However, bad luck saw Zambia prevail in a dramatic penalty shoot-out at the expense of Ivory Coast.

CAN 2013 in South Africa may represent Drogba’s last AFCON participation and pressure to succeed is increasingly building up. Without taking anything away from the glamour of the tournament, the striker promised fans that the players will sacrifice their all but reminded how hard the challenge would be. He added:

“So yes, we will do everything to win [the 2013 AFCON] but once again, we will be up against quality teams like Zambia, Tunisia, Morocco and more. It’s a tough job but we will try our luck in a few weeks’ time.”

Ivory Coast are in a tough group with Tunisia, Algeria and Togo.