DROGBA: FANTASTIC FANS

Didier Drogba learned a lot at the Bukit Jalil Stadium on Thursday, having for the first time sampled the enthusiasm of almost 85,000 Chelsea supporters in Asia.


Our sell-out at Malaysia's national stadium sets a new record for a Chelsea friendly, with the noise inside the arena reaching previously unimagined levels. For Drogba, who missed our 2008 tour of the region, it was an unforgettable experience, demonstrated by his filming of the crowd on his phone prior to kick-off.

The support clearly had an effect, with the 33-year-old Ivorian creating the game's only goal, his venomous free-kick rebounding off the post and in off the Malaysian goalkeeper.
'The reception was amazing,' Drogba said afterwards. 'People used to tell me we have a lot of fans here in Asia and what we saw today was unbelievable, and the whole time we have been here, the passion really was special.
'It is good to travel and feel who our supporters are. Now we know when we are playing we are not only playing for our Chelsea fans in England, we are also playing for these people.'

The forward's free-kick was the standout moment in a game made difficult by energetic opposition and an awkward pitch, not to mention the hot and humid conditions.

'I think it was a good opportunity to try and score, I'm not sure if the ball crossed the line but the most important thing is the result,' Drogba said. 'It's good for the team to win, even if it was a friendly and the game was very difficult.

'Everything made it difficult, our opposition, the heat, the pitch. We have had around 14 days of training since we started, not a lot, and our fitness is difficult starting again here.

'The pitch was not easy and also the weather, the humidity, the heat, it is really difficult. I've said before it is similar to Ivory Coast, so I am a little bit used to it even though it is very difficult. I think it's difficult for both teams, even though they are from here it must be difficult for them as well. That's how it is, it's a bit crazy.'

'Crazy' would certainly describe the levels of support experienced so far. Now it is on to Thailand and the Rajamangala National Stadium, where we will meet a local Premier League All Stars XI, once more live on Chelsea TV.

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REACTION: CONTINUING TO GROW

Andre Villas-Boas admitted after the 1-0 win in Malaysia that his team lacked the efficiency in front of goal that would have given a scoreline more reflecting of the play, but he saw clear signs of progress with four pre-season games yet to play before the league season begins.

It took a rebound off a post and then off the keeper for an own-goal winner after a well-struck Didier Drogba free-kick late in the game, but the Blues dominated throughout against a young Malaysian select side, who were reduced to two genuine chances to score. Chelsea had more.

'We cannot forget the heat and the conditions, but it is clear that result in the end seems short because we had some good opportunities,' said Villas-Boas after the game.

'At the end we had a couple of good moments regarding what we are doing in training. Things are happening for us in terms of our objectives in transition and without the ball.

'Of course we could have scored more because we made a lot of opportunities which is a good sign for us, but the most important thing is that we continue to grow as a team leading up to the Stoke game.
'Also there was a major display by the Malaysian goalkeeper.'

The Portuguese manager was not able to comment on whether the ball had crossed the line, it was a tight decision by the linesman, but he declared he is not worrying over a lack of goals from his forward players at this stage of the summer, even if he recognises a need for improvement.

'Gaining confidence to find the back of the net comes with training and that comes with patience,' he said. 'At Chelsea we are prepared to give our forwards this kind of patience because the most important thing for us is to win collectively.

'I will just let things happen naturally. In Chelsea every player finds extreme competitiveness to be successful and the best players performing in training will go into the games and hopefully help the team to be successful.'

With the intensity of the training sessions that run for 90 minutes, often twice a day, and the heat in Asia, Villas-Boas continues to limit the players to 45 minutes match action at a time. He does not see any player given 90 minutes in the immediate future so performances from half-to-half are likely to vary.

'In the first half we played a lot horizontally from side to side and we could not find enough vertical passes forward,' he said of Thursday's game.

'In the second half we finally found more vertical passes, we changed the structure to 4-4-2 with a diamond by playing Nicolas Anelka behind Daniel Sturridge and Didier Drogba, and there was the space that we were looking to find. It is not his position but he has done it before in the past and we created another couple of chances.

'We are trying to build a new way of playing and things don't happen in three weeks. That is our target and that is our challenge and hopefully they will happen in the future.

'4-4-3 for us is a modern system and we are trying to link what we have with this system. It has been a lot of information for the players and the players are magnificent at absorbing so many new ideas in such a short period of time.'

Speaking of the future, Villas-Boas predicts a bright one for teenage centre-back Nathaniel Chalobah who contributed 45 minutes to the clean-sheet performance.

'Nathaniel is very young but already he is very impressive. At the moment he can build on to a very successful career but at 16 you never know what is going to happen when you are 25 or throughout your career. Hopefully things for him will work out.

'I think he has a place in Chelsea's future for sure because he has enough quality and he shows already enough maturity to be a great central defender.'

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Chelsea's Yossi Benayoun suffering racial abuse from Malaysia Fans

Chelsea laboured to a 1-0 victory over a Malaysia XI thanks to controversial Didier Drogba goal, but the game was marred by Yossi Benayoun suffering racial abuse.


The Blues struggled to break down their Asian opponents, selcted largely from the Olympic U23 team, unlike Arsenal and Liverpool who both thrashed the same team.

Lampard had the best chance of the game before half-time after Kalou sliced open the Malaysian defence with a wonderful pass but the veteran Chelsea midfielder failed to connect.

A Drogba free-kick won them the game but the ball did not cross the line at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur.

Replays of the 80th minute strike show the ball hit the post then and bounced off goalkeeper Mohamad Izham Tarmizia’s back, but did not hit the net.

Malaysia then could of equalised in the 85th minute, but A. Thamil Arasu shot wide after being put through with only the goalkeeper to beat.

But the sour point of the match was the constant booing of Benayoun – the first Israeli to play in Malaysia – in the first-half.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel.

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