Drogba wants African glory, says Gervinho

Ivory Coast striker Gervinho says winning the African Cup of Nations is team-mate Didier Drogba’s last goal in football.

The former Chelsea forward won the 2011/12 Champions League with his final kick of the ball for the west London club, before moving to China to join Nicolas Anelka at Shanghai Shenhua.

However, one trophy that still evades Drogba is the African showpiece, having reached the tournament final twice previously – in 2006 and 2012.

And Gervinho says lifting the AFCON trophy is the only thing left for Drogba to accomplish before calling time on an illustrious career.

“(AFCON is) the only thing left he wants to get for the Ivory Coast because he has brought us so much already,” the Arsenal striker told Goal.com.

“That’s the one last objective. I hope he will be successful. We will be with him.

“We will support him at the best of our abilities for him to be able to give this to the nation and then…maybe he will keep going but we could not ask for more from him.”

Gervinho also insists the former Chelsea man is a role model for a lot of young players in Africa.

“Yes, for me and a lot of young players in Africa, he is part of football history and of Ivory Coast history,” he added.

“I’m very lucky being able to be next to the likes of Thierry Henry or Didier Drogba.

“I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can. Before my first Cup of Nations in Ghana, I always wanted to play with him. I’m happy I’m able to do so… play with him, being close to him, laugh with him.

“Now I hope I’ll win a trophy with him. It would be the best present ever for him, for me, and for Ivory Coast.”

Gervinho, meanwhile, is confident of advancing to the quarter-finals despite being in a group that includes Algeria, Togo and Tunisia.

“It’s a group where there are good teams and good players,” he continued.

“All the fans want to see good games. I personally don’t see a team that we must absolutely avoid playing against.

“When you want to win a competition you have to play all the best teams, whether it’s Algeria, Tunisia or Togo. For me, the most important thing is to win my games and qualify for the next round.

“We need to start well against Togo and if we get the three points out of it we will have good confidence for the rest.

“None of the other teams are more important than another one. My aim is to qualify for the quarter finals.”