Supporters will be able to watch Chelsea take on world-renowned opposition this summer with a major tournament in the United States now confirmed as part of the pre-season preparations.
The schedule is :
Saturday, July 18
Chelsea FC 2 - 0 Seattle Sounders
>> MATCH REPORT
Tuesday, July 21
Chelsea FC vs. FC Internazionale Milano
Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.)
11 pm EST on ESPN2 (4am July 22 UK time on Chelsea TV)
>> click here to buy tickets
Friday, July 24
Chelsea FC v AC Milan
M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, Md.)
8 pm EST on ESPN (1am July 25 UK time on Chelsea TV)
>> click here to buy tickets
Sunday, July 26
Chelsea FC vs. Club America
Cowboy Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
7 pm EST on ESPN2 (Midnight [00:00 hours July 27] UK time on Chelsea TV)
>> click here to buy tickets
The squad will begin their US Tour to take on MLS opposition in the shape of the Seattle Sounders in Seattle on Saturday 18 July.
Following that the Blues will be visiting California, Maryland and Texas for three matches in the inaugural World Football Challenge, a six-city round robin tournament.
Chelsea's first match in the tournament will be against Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan with the venue the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California on Tuesday 21 July.
On Friday 24 July we swap West Coast for East Coast and a game against more Serie A giants - AC Milan. The match will take place in the M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland.
Chelsea's participation is completed on Sunday 26 July with a match against Mexico's best-supported team, Club América, in the Cowboy Stadium, Arlington, Texas.
Peter Kenyon announced the dates in New York for the 2009 World Football Challenge and its match schedule. The Chelsea chief executive said:
'We are delighted to be in the United States again for pre-season. This is our fifth pre-season out of six that we have toured here and it is always a pleasure to see our fans and train and play in excellent facilities in great cities.
'Chelsea, of course, will bring a full-strength first team squad and with the quality of the opposition, and the backing of our partners, this series of matches will be the best preparation and the most high profile we have played in America.'
ESPN, the leading US English-language sports broadcaster, will televise all the matches on ESPN or ESPN2 in the States. Chelsea TV will broadcast our games exclusively in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
'The interest in soccer in the US is higher than ever before and the proof is that these matches will be televised live on ESPN, the country's leading sports station,' said Kenyon.
Last May, the Champions League Final between Chelsea and Manchester United in Moscow was seen by 1.1 million viewers on ESPN2, a record for the competition in the US.
AC Milan are familiar pre-season opponents for Chelsea. In Moscow last summer we enjoyed a 5-0 victory over Carlo Ancelotti's side but it is in America where we have faced the Italian club most often in summer matches.
In August 2004 Didier Drogba netted during his first start in a Chelsea shirt and Eidur Gudjohnsen also found the target, but it was not enough to prevent a 3-2 defeat in front of nearly 40,000 fans in Philadelphia.
Hernán Crespo and Andriy Shevchenko both played for Milan on that occasion, Sheva scoring the winner with a free-kick.
In pre-season a year later we faced Milan twice, beating them 1-0 in Foxborough, Massachusetts thanks to an Arjen Robben goal. Then we shared a 1-1 draw in the Giants' Stadium in New Jersey with Drogba again on the scoresheet.
AC's big city rivals Inter have crossed our path far less frequently although we did face each other as part of 2002's Birra Moretti pre-season tournament in Bari, Italy.
Chelsea, then managed by Claudio Ranieri, lost 3-0 to goals from Christian Vieri and two from Mohamed Kallon.
Club América, the 10-times Mexican champions who play in the famous Azteca Stadium in Mexico City, faced Chelsea as recently as July 2007.
In a match held in front of over 47,000 fans at the Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto in California, the Mexicans took an early lead but Florent Malouda and John Terry found the net in the final 15 minutes to record a win.
Match tickets for the 2009 World Football Challenge go on sale today at www.worldfootballchallenge.com
The full tournament schedule is:
Sunday, July 19
Club America vs. FC Internazionale Milano at Stanford Stadium (Palo Alto, Calif.)
7 pm EST on ESPN2
Tuesday, July 21
Chelsea FC vs. FC Internazionale Milano at the Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.)
11 pm EST on ESPN2 (4am July 22 UK time on Chelsea TV)
Wednesday, July 22
AC Milan vs. Club America at the Georgia Dome (Atlanta, Ga.)
7 pm EST on ESPN2
Friday, July 24
AC Milan vs. Chelsea FC at M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore, Md.)
8 pm EST on ESPN (1am July 25 UK time on Chelsea TV)
Sunday, July 26
AC Milan vs. FC Internazionale Milano at Gillette Stadium (Foxborough, Mass.)
5 pm EST on ESPN2
Sunday, July 26
Chelsea FC vs. Club America at Cowboy Stadium (Arlington, Texas)
7 pm EST on ESPN2 (Midnight [00:00 hours July 27] UK time on Chelsea TV)
