DIDIER Drogba has offered to apologise once again for his foul-mouthed behaviour after Chelsea’s Champions League semi-final exit to Barcelona.
The Ivorian striker, preparing for today’s FA Cup final against Everton at Wembley, has already said sorry for his TV rant and angry confrontation with Norwegian referee Tom Henning Ovrebo.
Ovrebo came under fire for rejecting four penalty appeals in the second leg at Stamford Bridge and the club, along with Drogba and defender Jose Bosingwa, have all been charged with various offences by UEFA.
Drogba was given a yellow card by the Norwegian official as he confronted him after the game and UEFA have since accused him of making offensive and insulting remarks towards the official.
Chelsea have also been charged with failing to control their players and the use of missiles by their fans after Andres Iniesta’s last-gasp equaliser earned Barca a 1-1 draw and a place in the final on the away goals rule.
Drogba will be in the spotlight once more with today’s final shown live to a worldwide TV audience.
But the Ivorian is determined to consign the Barcelona nightmare to history and insists he will apologise again if that’s what it takes to restore his battered reputation.
‘‘The game has gone (Barcelona) and everything is finished,’’ said Drogba. ‘‘I have apologised and if I have to, I will do it again. But now my objective is to win the FA Cup.
‘‘I have played some games after that one and I think the spirit of the team and the way my friends and the club supported me was great.
‘‘The FA Cup is a different competition but the good thing is that even though we are out of the Champions League the spirit has always been good and we are together.
‘‘We were fighting for three trophies a few weeks ago and now we only have one. So we will do our best to win it.
‘‘Some seasons you win more cups than others, and I hope this year will have the same ending as when we beat Manchester United in 2007.
‘‘Everybody thinks it is going to be an easy to game for Chelsea but we have to give a lot of respect to Everton, because of the way they finished the season. We have to concentrate.’’ Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole, meanwhile, admits that becoming the first player for more than 100 years to win five FA Cup medals would be a major achievement in his career.
The 28-year-old has lifted the famous trophy four times, with three of those triumphs coming during his time at Arsenal.
But the England international is determined to join an elite band of players when he lines up against Everton.
The last player to win a quintuple of FA Cups was Jimmy Forrest, of Blackburn, in 1891, while the only other players to achieve the feat are Charles Wollaston, in 1878, and Arthur Kinnaird, in 1882.
‘‘It would be a great milestone if I could get it,’’ said Cole. ‘‘I would be honoured to have the record. It’s a great trophy to win and I would be delighted to win it five times.’’ The final will also mark the end of interim coach Guus Hiddink’s reign as Chelsea boss.
The Dutchman will return to his full-time job as coach of Russia’s national side and Cole admits it will be difficult to let him go.
Cole added: ‘‘He’s a good guy and we all get on well with him, and we’re going to miss him.
‘‘But he said from day one that he was leaving so we didn’t get any false pretences.”
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