Luk-ing up to Drogba

Romelu Lukaku is lighting up the World Cup finals with four goals for Belgium, and Didier Drogba could not be happier.

The retired Chelsea legend is an influential presence in the life of the Manchester United striker (pictured) — and their story began before their paths crossed at Stamford Bridge.

“I spoke to him when he was very young,” Drogba told the BBC. “I was on the telephone to (Belgium defender) Vincent Kompany and he said to me, ‘Listen, I’m with this kid and he really wants to speak to you’. A couple of years later, he signed for Chelsea.

“At Chelsea I was on the massage table and he came up to me: ‘You’re my hero. When you were playing for Marseille, I looked up to you so much. I could tell you what shoes you were wearing and at what time you scored. I remember all that because I was nine years old at the time.’ And I was 34!

“He’s someone that wants to learn and I’m really happy to give him advice. He’s also learning from (Belgium assistant coach) Thierry Henry and I think when you want to be the best, you have to learn from the best.” sniffing around their young goalkeeper Francis

Uzoho after an impressive display to keep a clean sheet in the Super Eagles’ 2-0 win over Iceland.

At just 19, Uzoho (pictured) is one of the youngest players at the tournament and Nigeria’s Guardian newspaper reports an English Premier League side have sent scouts to monitor him.

But Nigeria has told them to back off, wanting Uzoho, who is signed to Spain’s Deportivo La Coruna, to focus on his World Cup campaign. “We need total concentration to succeed in this competition,” a source told the newspaper. Matilda Legend No.17, Viking, Back In Time.