Former Blue George Weah was at the Sun Life Stadium to see the Blues on Saturday, and was delighted to see some old friends in both the Chelsea and Milan ranks.
Weah, the only African ever to win the World Player of the Year award, joined Chelsea on a half-season loan from Milan back in January 2000, scoring on his debut against Spurs and going on to lift the last ever FA Cup held at the old Wembley, and now resides in Florida as he completes a masters course at De Vry University.
Despite his short stay, the Liberian considers his time at Stamford Bridge among the highlights of his glittering career and was pleased to meet up with John Terry and Roberto Di Matteo before the weekend’s game.
‘John Terry was a young man when I first saw him, and he was a good boy,’ recalled the 46-year-old. ‘Now he is the captain and I spoke to him, I always told him he was going to be one of the best central defenders, and now he is the best.
‘I also saw the coach, the man who won me my FA Cup medal. We must commend Roman Abramovich for giving him the opportunity to continue in the job. He came and was able to contribute to the cause and to be able to continue his work is important.
‘Robbie is another very disciplined person and I am sure he will do well and I pray he is successful.’
Despite defeat to the Italians, Weah believes we are in a good position heading into the new campaign.
‘I was very happy to see Chelsea play in Miami. It was brilliant for me, and I follow the game from Florida, always looking for which big teams are coming over to play, so it was great to hear from Chelsea to say they were coming, and then AC Milan wrote to me too,’ he said.
‘Now Chelsea are home from a very warm and beautiful atmosphere, and it is a great team all-round, but Chelsea always need a strong squad and I’d like to see them sign another striker to use.
‘It is a clever team, that moves the ball around well but I feel Fernando Torres just needs some help, but he is looking quick and strong. He is looking dangerous when he drops deep and gets involved in the play drawing defenders out, more than when he stays still in the area waiting for the ball, which isn’t really his game.
‘There are a lot of competitions to come, and I would love to see this Chelsea team lift the Intercontinental Cup to complete the year.’