KUALA LUMPUR: More than 30,000 local and foreign fans of English Premier League club, Chelsea FC, flocked to the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, here tonight to watch their favourite team undergo a training session.
Fans from as far as Europe, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand came as early as 4pm, although the training session only started at 7pm.
Most of them sporting the team's jersey were ecstatic to watch their favourite players right in front of their eyes.
The team touched down in Malaysia yesterday, for their first pre-season match against a Malaysian selection on Thursday (July 21) at 8.45pm.
All of the 26 Chelsea players, including team captain, John Terry, Petr Cech, Ashley Cole, Nicolas Anelka, Fernando Torres and Frank Lampard were present during the more than an hour training session.
The team under the guidance of Andres Villa-Boas will be meeting Malaysian selection, a combination of the Harimau Muda and Harimau Malaya team, at the National Stadium at 8.45pm on July 21.
This was the team's third appearance in Malaysia.
In 2003, the team defeated Malaysia 4-1 in the FA Premier League (FAPL) Asia Cup at the National Stadium and in 2008, they beat Malaysia 2-0 in their final leg of the 2008 Asia Tour at the Shah Alam Stadium.
After Malaysia, the team will meet Thailand All Stars at the Rajamangala Stadium on July 24.
Chelsea will then play two games in the Barclays Asia Trophy in Hong Kong, namely against Hong Kong champion Kitchee FC on July 27 and the winners will face either Aston Villa or Blackburn in the final on July 30. - BERNAMA
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