We are only two days away from Chelsea’s first pre-season game in Japan against Kawasaki Frontale as we continue our countdown to kick-off in Yokohama by looking back at images from past visits to the country by the Blues.
The photo above was taken after a Chelsea training session in Yokohama in December 2012 and shows a smiling Cesar Azpilicueta exchanging high fives with a group of excited young local footballers as he leaves the ground.
The versatile Spanish defender was fairly new to the club at the time, having joined us from Marseille that summer, but he has gone on to become a huge fan favourite at Stamford Bridge and is our longest continuous serving player with 337 games over the past seven seasons for the Blues.
Azpilicueta has returned to Japan this pre-season and he will be in action when we face J.League champions Kawasaki Frontale in Yokohama on Friday 19 July and Barcelona in Saitama on Tuesday 23 July.
For ticket information for both of Chelsea’s pre-season matches in Japan, please click here.