PHOENIX — Didier Drogba, enduring the worst season of his storied Chelsea career in the spring of 2012, met a young French coach, Patrice Carteron.

Five years later, the bond formed between the two is at the core of Phoenix Rising FC’s emergence as United Soccer League title contender and the frontrunner for the next round of Major League Soccer expansion.

As the USL Playoffs begin Friday, Drogba enters the final minutes of his playing career, for he announced in March that 2018 would be his final season. The Rising, with the third-best record in the Western Conference, will host Portland Timbers 2 in Friday’s first round match.

And the club’s season-long success can be traced back to Drogba and his handpicked coach, someone not present with Rising for its playoff run – Carteron.

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Carteron had just begun his tenure as Mali’s national team coach in 2012 and was living part-time in London as he finished his UEFA A License coursework. He had a mutual contact with Drogba, for his best friend was Drogba’s personal trainer.

Upon meeting, Carteron and Drogba quickly realized they shared the same ideals. They began working together in advance of UEFA Champions League matches, particularly focusing on set pieces.

Drogba, who had been losing playing time to Fernando Torres, regained confidence as Chelsea made an improbable run to the UEFA Champions League final. In that final vs. Bayern Munich, Drogba scored the equalizing goal in the 88th minute, ironically – for Carteron’s sake – from a set piece. He later converted the winning penalty kick to give Chelsea its first Champions League title.

“I was more a fan at that point,” Carteron said. “Didier worked hard and earned minutes later on. He wanted to win the Champions League so badly for Chelsea.”

Carteron returned to Africa that summer where he found tremendous success. He led Mali up to 25th in the FIFA men’s rankings, a record-high ranking for the country, and a third place finish in the 2013 African Cup of Nations, all in the backdrop of an ongoing Mali civil war.

He then moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo where he managed TP Mazembe for three seasons, winning the 2015 CAF Champions League with the club.

And his success caught the eye of another African, his Cote d’Ivoire friend who he worked with in London five years earlier.

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When Phoenix businessman Berke Bakay led a group of eight owners that purchased a struggling Arizona United SC club in 2016, he made an immediate splash with a vibrant rebrand to Phoenix Rising FC and the introduction of musicians Diplo and Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz as co-owners.

Yet the most stunning addition was the following spring – Drogba joined the ownership group and committed to play his final seasons with the club.

But Drogba had one primary condition if he was going to move to the Arizona desert to join a lower-division club playing in a temporary stadium — Carteron would be his coach.

“Didier paid attention to my results in Africa,” Carteron said. “He convinced me to join him in Phoenix.”

Both Drogba and Carteron both made their anticipated debuts midseason vs. Vancouver Whitecaps 2 on June 10, 2017, and the results in Phoenix after the two reunited were tremendous. The Rising lost only five of 29 USL matches within the first year of their arrival, a far cry from the dismal 2016 season where the club lost nearly half its matches.

“All of the players love him,” Drogba said. “He has done a great job. His speeches before the games were amazing. I think everyone here gives everything because the manager gave us his trust.”

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Drogba remains without a question the league’s most recognizable star. He scored 14 goals in 22 appearances since his Rising debut and was honored in May vs. Sacramento Republic FC for his 500th career appearance.

His most notable 2018 highlight was a corner-kick assist vs. LA Galaxy 2 where he paused to drink a young fan’s water before firing a perfectly-placed cross at the front post.

“Even at 40, if he had the same desire, he could play in Europe and the big clubs again,” Carteron said. “His determination and work ethic would allow that.”

Drogba provided guidance from his two-decades of global achievements to an energetic, youthful, yet mostly inexperienced squad, a group of players that Drogba said he enjoyed learning and working with while also teaching himself patience during training sessions.

“Meeting Drogba, he comes from a different galaxy, his stories, experiences and work ethic,” said Rising midfielder Alessandro Riggi, who also trained with Drogba while with Montreal Impact’s USL affiliate in 2015-16. “After training, this guy takes a bag of balls, goes to his free kick spot and takes shot after shot, effortlessly.

“There are two sides to Drogba. There’s his work ethic where he doesn’t speak, he doesn’t need to, but you learn from him working hard. The other side, when guys are out of line and not focused, that pisses him off. It’s disrespectful to the game, and he speaks up.”

Drogba missed more than half the 2018 season, a handful of spring matches for injury precaution (throughout his career he sat out matches on artificial surfaces to protect his knees), and then an extended four-month break while he worked in Russia as a BBC World Cup commentator in addition to representing the Rising at business meetings across the globe.

Without its global star and captain, the Rising didn’t miss a beat.

The club finished with a club-record 19 wins. Chris Cortez led the roster with 17 goals (tied for second-best in the Western Conference) complemented with Solomon Asante’s 12 goals. Combined with players such as Riggi, who is one of the club’s best distributors, and Jason Johnson (13 goals in 2017), the Rising became most prolific offensive teams in the league.

And the strong team chemistry that allowed the seamless transition with Drogba out of the lineup can be attributed to Carteron’s shrewd training approach.

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Competition is the theme with the Rising. The players say it stems from an intense preseason schedule where they played five MLS clubs, including a Feb. 24 victory over New York Red Bulls, and a match against L.D.U. Quito in Ecuador.

Carteron emphasized the importance of daily competition with the quality roster he assembled, and it was understood no spot in the lineup was given each week.

An example of the theory in practice – Riggi was nominated for USL’s Team of the Week after his two assists May 9 in a 3-0 victory at OKC Energy FC. He didn’t start again for three months.

“He’s definitely the most interesting coach I’ve worked with,” Riggi said. “He makes you grow a lot mentally in the game, what it takes to win and the desire needed. He speaks a lot about having a great spirit.”

Carteron’s attention to detail is unparalleled, even compared to compulsiveness often seen with coaches. After an early-season victory, he walked into the locker room and began detailing the exact temperatures forecasted for the next match, which was still a week away, and where cooling tents would be strategically placed for the water breaks.

“He doesn’t take a day off,” Riggi said. “Even if you catch him in a plane and he is resting, it looks like he is still thinking about the game, dreaming about the match.”

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Phoenix’s immediate goal for the upcoming four weeks is straightforward — winning the 2018 USL Cup, giving soccer-loving Phoenix its first professional title in the sport, and seeing out Drogba’s playing career with him as a champion one final time.

However, Carteron will remain absent from the touchline during this run.

The Frenchman left the club in June when he became manager at Al Ahly, one of Egypt’s top clubs. The move to Cairo was the next step in the ascension of his career, even if his return to Africa did not align with the conclusion of the Rising’s season.

Interim coach Rick Schantz stepped into Carteron’s place and will continue to lead the club in the playoffs. Schantz also held the interim role during the 2017 until Carteron’s arrival midseason.

Although separated, Drogba and Carteron, the two men who met at Chelsea six years ago, have built the long-term foundation and momentum for the Rising’s ultimate goal – a MLS expansion bid.

The club was one of 12 ownership groups to submit an expansion bid in late 2016. The Rising’s USL success in 2018 bolstered its bid, for it averaged a sellout capacity 6,381 attendance at its home matches. The club recently revealed plans for a new 21,000 seat stadium and has added additional investors to the ownership group.

Phoenix is now considered one of the favorites to join the league with MLS finalizing its 27th and 28th expansion slots as early as December. Drogba is at the forefront of this push, meeting numerous times behind the scenes with MLS commissioner Don Garber and marketing his club at events during the FIFA World Cup in Russia.

“We are building the momentum and doing a lot of work to make sure we can be one of the most attractive teams to get to the MLS,” Drogba said. “It’s the love of the game. This team is very competitive. The manager is a competitor. He doesn’t like to lose, this team doesn’t like to lose, and that’s how we push forward together.”

Follow James on Twitter: @James_Poling.

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