to face, these include Gerard Piqué, Carles Puyol, Chris Smalling, Nemanja Vidić, and Laurent Koscielny. Outside football Personal and family life Drogba is married to Lalla Diakité, a Malian woman whom he met in Paris, and the couple have three children together. His eldest son, Isaac, was born in France in 1999, grew up in England and has played in the Chelsea academy system. He signed for French club Guingamp in February 2018. Drogba has two younger brothers who are also footballers: Joël and Freddy Drogba. Freddy, born in 1992, joined French Ligue 1 side Dijon FCO, and played for the youth team. He is a devout Roman Catholic. His uncle, Michel Goba, is also a professional footballer and Ivorian international, and his cousin Kévin Goba (Michel's son) is a professional footballer who played in the lower leagues of France. In a statement post on Instagram, Drogba confirmed their divorce with wife of almost two decades Lala, adding that it was a mutual agreement between himself and his Lalla. “I'm not in the habit of discussing my private life,” the 2012 UEFA Champions League winner wrote. “But because of speculation in the media today, I can confirm that sadly, after 20 years together, Lalla and I took the difficult decision to separate last year. “We remain very close and our main priorities have been to protect our children and our family's private life. May God bless you.” Philanthropy Drogba is credited with playing a vital role in bringing peace to his country. After the Ivory Coast qualified for the 2006 World Cup by defeating Sudan on 8 October 2005, Drogba made a desperate plea to the combatants, asking them to lay down their arms, a plea which was answered with a cease fire after five years of civil war. Carl Anka writes, "torn by religious and political tensions, Drogba seized a unifying moment for his country and invited TV cameras into the Elephants changing room where he made a speech to the camera. The man spoke and a nation listened — the elections went off without bloodshed." Drogba later helped move an African Cup of Nations qualifier to the rebel stronghold of Bouake, a move that helped confirm the peace process. On 24 January 2007, Drogba was appointed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a Goodwill Ambassador. The UNDP were impressed with his previous charity work and believed