After a hugely impressive first win under Enzo Maresca the night before, Thursday saw the Chelsea players head out to meet fans and members of the Atlanta community.
Following breakfast, six of our Blues set off for StationSoccer Lindbergh where in partnership with EA, we welcomed around 300 to 400 Chelsea fans for a fun brand event.
Our International Football Development coaches, alongside counterparts from Soccer in the Streets, have been running sessions for hundreds of children in the local community at two StationSoccer locations since our arrival in Atlanta earlier this week.
And on Thursday they were joined at the Lindbergh site by captain Reece James, Marcus Bettinelli, Moises Caicedo, Wesley Fofana, Malo Gusto and Nicolas Jackson, who began their time there by joining in with one of the coaching drills.
Today’s unique brand event, which included a live DJ, saw a host of social media influencers, music artists and former players compete in a 5v5 Rush competition, with two Chelsea sides and two from EA.
One of the Chelsea teams included our former captain Gary Cahill, who was also at one of the StationSoccer coaching sessions yesterday, learning more about the programme and meeting the children in attendance.
Fans also had the chance to receive autographs and have pose for selfies with their heroes during the event.
In another part of the city, Tosin Adarabioyo, Romeo Lavia and Robert Sanchez visited the Atlanta Falcons’ training ground to have a tour of the facility and meet with some of the NFL players.
The Blues players took part in a punt and throwing challenge as well as swapping shirts with NFL stars Kirk Cousins, Kyle Pitts and Avery Williams.
There was another tour for four of our players at the studios of one of our broadcast partners, TNT.
Raheem Sterling, Armando Broja and academy duo Josh Acheampong and Tyrique George were shown what goes into producing a live broadcast before Sterling took part in an interview on CNN.
The above was followed by lunch and then in the evening, the players had a training session at Pace Academy.
Head coach Enzo Maresca has been working the players hard in the States as he looks to implement his distinctive playing style ahead of the new season.