Former Chelsea goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini knows a thing or two about life in the USA after spending the final year of his playing career with LA Galaxy. He will be working as a club ambassador during our pre-season tour in North America and here he looks forward to the visit…
What can the players expect from our three matches, the first of which is against New York Red Bulls?
Red Bulls have been doing well over the past couple of seasons, particularly this year, so it will be a big test – especially as Chelsea are only starting their pre-season in America, which is different to usual as in other years they’d meet up in London to do all of the tests and start working a little bit before heading on tour. Playing this friendly in such a short time after the pre-season starts will be different, and it will be a good game, for sure, and interesting to see the progress of New York.
Once you’re on the pitch against Barcelona or PSG, you want to beat them in front of these great fans! Knowing how competitive our boss and players are, they’ll want to win this tournament at possibly the most important phase of the season, which is preparing yourself for the season. They need to find the right balance, but I’m sure they will.
How does the atmosphere in the MLS and the ICC, the stadiums we are playing in, compare with the other big US sports?
Americans, in general, love the show and they try to make the sporting event a bit of a show. There’s loud music going on, they try to prepare some kind of show on the pitch for before the game or at half-time. They try to entertain the crowd as long as they can and as much as possible. Soccer is the same. It’s different than Europe, but still a great experience. There are a lot of kids going to matches and that’s exceptional to see.
You’re also a huge fan of US sports, aren’t you?
I always loved America, and one of the reasons is because of the sports. I love the college teams and how teenagers can really concentrate on sports while studying at the same time. It’s a great concept.
I’m a big fan of the NFL and NBA, but not so much the baseball or hockey. Although, living in LA, the Kings have been very successful in recent years and won two Stanley Cups in three years, so I learned a little bit about them and the sport. And the atmosphere in the arena was unreal, absolutely fantastic.
With the NBA, obviously the Lakers, although when I was there and even now they are not are going through a great spell. They are struggling a little bit, but I had the chance to see Kobe Bryant playing live. That was a great experience.
My NFL team is actually very far from LA – the Cincinnati Bengals. It’s almost on the other side, but I still had the chance to go and see them play. LA doesn’t have a team, but nearby you have the San Diego Chargers, so I went to see the Bengals play against them.
Did the tour you went on 11 years ago, during Jose Mourinho’s first summer in charge, plant the seed that you wanted to go over to America to live?
I always loved America since the first time I visited as a seven-year-old. For some reason, there has always been a good energy and I loved visiting the place – mainly for holidays, but also pre-seasons. In my mind, I always knew if the chance came along to finish my career in America then it was an opportunity I would love to do. When it came up, I obviously took it with both hands. I moved over without thinking about it too much.
My favorite goalkeeper before Peter Cezh 