Didier Drogba dedicates win to deceased teammate Cheick Tiote

Former Chelsea star Didier Drogba dedicated a club debut win to his Ivory Coast teammate Cheick Tiote, who passed away last Monday.

30-year-old Tiote collapsed and died at a training session with Chinese club Beijing Enterprises. He was with Newcastle United for six seasons before making the move to China. 

To honour his teammate's memory, Drogba dedicated his first win with American side Phoenix Rising, to Tiote. Drogba's side went on to win their clash against Whitecaps FC II 2-1.

The former Chelsea star posted the message on his Instagram account:

 

New chapter, new Team, new friends, the game is still beautiful @phxrisingfc I wanna dedicate this win to @tiote_official who passed away few days ago while doing what he loved, playing football. My thoughts and condolences to his family 🙏🏾🙏🏾 Premier but dans cette nouvelle aventure avec un goût spécial, je dédis ce but et cette victoire à un de nos plus vaillant éléphant Champion d'Afrique @tiote_official à jamais dans nos cœurs Champion @tiote_official 💔 Fortes pensées à toute la famille et à toute la Côte d'Ivoire et l'Afrique qui pleure un des leurs.

A post shared by didierdrogba (@didierdrogba) on Jun 10, 2017 at 11:45pm PDT

Drogba signed for Phoenix Rising in April as a 'player-executive,' following two seasons with Montreal Impact. 

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