The 29-year-old relatively kept the former Chelsea star quiet when the Super Eagles played the Ivorians at Afcon in South Africa
Godfrey Oboabona has explained how the advice of his then Super Eagles teammate John Obi Mikel helped him to silence Ivory Coast legend Didier Drogba at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.
Nigeria faced the Ivorians in the quarter-final of the biennial tournament in South Africa en route to winning the trophy for the third time in their history.
The Super Eagles defeated Drogba’s inspired Elephants 2-1 with Sunday Mba scoring the match-winner after Cheick Tiote’s strike had cancelled out Emmanuel Emenike’s stunner.
Oboabona, who paired Kenneth Omeruo at the heart of Super Eagles defence in the tournament, revealed Mikel warned him not to allow Drogba, whom he played alongside in Chelsea, to turn with the ball as it could pose a danger to the Nigerian team.
“I remember a night before the game I went to Mikel because he was with Drogba in Chelsea,” the former Sunshine captain told Super Eagles media team in an Instagram chat.
“I asked him, ‘What do you think is his key point’ and he said to me I should not allow him to turn and if he turns I’m finished. With this, it was a lot of motivation to me.
“Before the game when we were warming up Mikel came to me and Kenneth and told us not to allow Drogba to turn and I remember I had a coach in Nigeria, Fatai Amoo, my coach in Sunshine Stars.
“We had a striker, we call him Coulibaly, he’s from Ivory Coast or Senegal, and he told me if you have a striker who is very strong give him a little distance so when he wants to turn you can approach him.
“I remember this and what Mikel said and in the game, I was close to him but not man-to-man.
“When he chests the ball he is so powerful and so strong, I always give him space to do whatever he wants to do, when I see he wants to turn then I close him down and don’t allow him to shoot.
“The encouragement Mikel gave to me really helped me a lot and I think with Kenneth, gave us a lot of motivation in the game.”
Oboabona has 39 caps for the three-time African champions since making his debut in 2012. The centre-back last featured for the side in 2016.
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