This time around, the Blues are getting ready to face Brazilian side Palmeiras in Abu Dhabi in tomorrow's final, but back in 2012 when we first qualified for the Club World Cup, Japan was our destination.

We played two games in Yokohama, beating Monterrey in the semi-finals before suffering an unlucky defeat to Corinthians to finish second, but how much do you remember about those games and the events around them in Japan. Check out our nine facts below and see if they ring a bell...

Goal-line technology introduced

Chelsea played a match using goal-line technology for the first-ever time during the 2012 FIFA Club World Cup. With the various forms of technology being narrowed down to a final two, FIFA chose to use both at the tournament as part of the last trials, with each being installed at one of the two stadiums.

The Yokohama Stadium, where both Chelsea’s matches were played, used the more obvious GoalRef system, involving large sensors attached to the frame of the goal creating a magnetic field, which would be triggered by a chip in the ball. The Toyota Stadium was fitted with the Hawk-Eye system that is now widely used, including at Stamford Bridge.

It was our 3-1 semi-final win over Monterrey which holds the honour of Chelsea’s first using the technology – and only the second match ever with GoalRef, following the tournament’s opening game between Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Auckland City – although it remained unneeded with all four goals clearly hitting the back of the net.

It was certainly a welcome addition for Blues midfielder Frank Lampard, who famously had an obvious goal not given for England against Germany at the 2010 World Cup, and said on the eve of the 2012 semi: 'I have been in favour for a while now, particularly when it was clear it would be a quick and simple measure, and wouldn't take much time from the game.

'It is just too important. Anything we can do to help referees, who have a very tough time trying to have their eye across everything, then we have to try and help them.’

New role for David Luiz

There was plenty of intrigue when Rafael Benitez announced his starting line-up for Chelsea’s Club World Cup semi-final against Monterrey, as it was revealed centre-back David Luiz would be pushed forward to play in midfield for Chelsea for the first time, being partnered with John Mikel Obi in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

The versatile Brazilian had played a similar role on occasion during his time at Benfica and doing the same in a Blues shirt certainly seemed to do the trick on this occasion, as we strolled to a 3-1 victory over the Mexicans.

Benitez explained: ‘The main idea for playing David Luiz there was for this game, because Monterrey are good between the lines, where they like to play little penetrating passes. They have the left winger going inside a lot so we wanted more players in this area. It was mainly for this game but it is always an option for the future.'

Although David Luiz was back in defence for the final against Corinthians, Benitez used him in midfield in both legs of that season’s Europa League semi-final – he scored in both games – as well as our win over Benfica in that final, while it was a tactic later repeated by Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte during their time as Blues head coach.

This one’s for you Oriol

Unfortunately Chelsea weren’t able to travel to Japan with the full squad we had named for the tournament. John Terry and Daniel Sturridge remained absent through injury, having not featured since early November, but it was the case of midfielder Oriol Romeu which drew the most sympathy.

Having been in his best form since joining Chelsea the previous season and enjoying a run of starts under Rafa Benitez, Romeu suffered a serious injury in our last game before the tournament at Sunderland, meaning while his team-mates travelled to Japan he was returning to London to undergo reconstructive surgery on his knee. Romeu didn’t return to action until the following September, and never made a competitive appearance for the Blues again.

The 21-year-old might have been absent but he wasn’t forgotten by his team-mates, as shown when his fellow Spaniard Juan Mata scored our first goal in Japan and celebrated with a tribute to his countryman by holding up six fingers for the television cameras, representing Romeu’s squad number. ‘My goal was for him and he deserves everything,’ said Mata after the game.

However, Romeu’s injury did provide an incredible opportunity for one youngster, as teenager George Saville, yet to make an appearance in senior football, was called up as his late replacement, being named among the Blues substitutes for both our matches at the Club World Cup.

What time is it?

Coping with the nine-hour time difference between the UK and Japan was clearly a big challenge for the Blues to overcome, when travelling in both directions, as there would be only three days until our League Cup tie with Leeds United upon returning to England.

In an effort to reduce the jarring jet lag the players would be suffering at both ends of the trip, the squad operated on their own time zone, halfway between the two countries. This presented it’s own problem, though, as the coaching staff looked for ways to keep the players awake and alert through the night.

The solution? Well, for one evening, it was a trip to the local 10-pin bowling alley, which inevitably resulted in the squad getting more than a little bit competitive to come out on top against their team-mates.

The Spanish trio of Fernando Torres, Juan Mata and Cesar Azpilicueta showed themselves to be no stranger to a strike, but for the English group of Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Ross Turnbull and George Saville it was all about the competition.

'There were a few strikes, the standard was quite high,’ said Cahill. ‘But in our group it wasn't about who won, it was about who lost, because they had to get the dinner in, and it was Ashley. He was waiting on us back at the hotel, but I think he's a better left-back than he is a waiter.’

No time to waste

The 2012/13 campaign was jam-packed with fixtures for Chelsea, as we played no less than 69 matches split across eight different competitions.

That left our schedule looking perilously tight when it came to travelling to and from Japan for the Club World Cup, with a Premier League fixture away at Sunderland on Saturday 8 December and our semi-final against Monterrey 6,000 miles away five days later.

That resulted in the Chelsea squad heading straight from the Stadium of Light to Newcastle Airport without returning home, flying overnight direct to Tokyo en route to the team’s base in Yokohama, in an attempt to maximise the time available to prepare in Japan and adapt to the time difference.

The turn-around was even tighter on the return trip, as we had a League Cup fifth-round tie away at Leeds United just three days after the final in Japan. However, the Blues still managed to squeeze in a training session at Cobham the day after our return, and there were no signs of jet lag as we defeated Leeds 5-1 at Elland Road.

Cahill sees red

It’s fair to say the Chelsea players didn’t leave Japan in the best of moods after losing the final to Corinthians, but Gary Cahill was even more frustrated than most after his harsh red card in the last minute of the game.

After a coming together with Emerson as they both vied to get on the end of a Corinthians clearance, the pair clashed off the ball before Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir halted the game. With many in the stadium and especially those watching at home on TV missing the incident, there was confusion as the official showed Cahill a red card.

The centre-back’s disbelief was obvious as he left the pitch and he didn’t hold back when discussing his sending off, although most of his anger seemed to be reserved for his Brazilian opponent rather than the referee.

'We sort of tangled legs and as we tangled he lashed out with his arm and hit me in the face,' Cahill explained. 'I have reacted, which wasn't the greatest of reactions from me, but it is two different players.

‘He hits me in the face and I don't roll around for five minutes holding my face like he has broken my nose and dislocated my jaw. I touch him on the shin and it probably wouldn't knock over my one-year-old daughter, yet he was rolling around five or six times.’

Just to add to Cahill's pain, the rules at the time meant that red card resulted in him being suspended for our League Cup tie away at Leeds three days later, although thankfully we managed without him as we won 5-1 at Elland Road.

Big in Japan

Plenty of Chelsea supporters have made the 3,500-mile journey to Abu Dhabi for this Club World Cup, but 10 years ago the Blues fans had almost twice that distance to cover to see us in action, with 6,000 miles separating London and Yokohama.

On that occasion there were 150 supporters who made the trip from the UK, with those joining them from other parts of the world taking that figure up to 1,000, including a large contingent from Australia.

In contrast, Monterrey had about 300 supporters making the trip from Mexico, while a massive 30,000 Brazilians made it to Japan with Corinthians.

The Blues following in Yokohama was also bolstered by a healthy number of local Japanese fans in Chelsea shirts, mixing with those from abroad and crossing the language barrier with a flurry of high-fives after goals, even contributing their own Chelsea song to the mix.

‘The Chelsea fans have always been amazing for me and the team and that has carried on here,’ said Frank Lampard in Japan. 'It is a long way to ask them to come and for them to put their hands in their pockets and come over here is fantastic, so I can’t thank them enough.’

Back in those pre-Covid times, the face masks worn by locals to guard against airborne infection, especially in winter months, were largely a novelty for the UK-based Chelsea supporters, and some who had travelled to Japan decided to wear them at the games to raise a smile. A few even had ‘Rafa Out’ written on them, with the interim coach’s position at the club not popular with a share of the support.

It’s hard now to believe face masks were unfamiliar then!

Brazil dreams dashed

Back then as now, there was a significant Brazilian influence on the Chelsea squad and there was added romance in playing in the Club World Cup for David Luiz, Ramires and Oscar, taking to the pitch in the stadium where their nation had last won the World Cup when a Ronaldo-inspired Brazil, managed by future Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, had beaten Germany 2-0 in the final in Yokohama.

After that, but prior to 2012, Oscar had an earlier chance to win the Club World Cup, although it was in Abu Dhabi rather than Japan, when he had competed with Brazilian team Internacional as a 19-year-old. It did not go to plan as they were shocked by Congolese side TP Mezembe in the semi-final.

'We tried everything we could to score a goal but it was one of those days where the ball just wouldn't go in the net,’ he told us in 2012. ‘It was unbelievable at the time, and what made it worse was the fact that we knew we had the quality to win that game and then beat Inter as our team was very strong. It really was a major disappointment.’

Instead it was Benitez’s Inter Milan side that lifted the trophy in 2010 but it was the turn of the Spaniard, plus the Chelsea Brazilians, to be disappointed two years later when losing out to Corinthians, the last time a South American side won the Club World Cup.

Incidentally, the stadium in Yokohama joins the Stade de France in Paris as having held both the football and rugby union World Cups.

And this weekend, Thiago Silva, Kenedy and Brazil-born Jorginho have the possibility to be in the first Chelsea squad successful in a Club World Cup decider.

Japan debut

The two games the Blues played in Yokohama 10 years ago were much-travelled Chelsea’s first-ever matches in Japan.

Since then, many of the current squad visited that part of the Far East during our pre-season preparations in 2019. We again played in Yokohama, against J.League champions Kawasaki Frontale, a match most notable for Christian Pulisic’s first appearance in a Chelsea shirt.

Frank Lampard’s side then beat Barcelona 2-1 in Saitama with Tammy Abraham and Ross Barkley scoring the goals, Ivan Rakitic hitting a consolation for Barca in added time.

Our 2022 games in the Club World Cup are the first Chelsea games in the United Arab Emirates.