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Sports / Football

Chelsea's 'responsibility' to win in Australia - Mourinho

Published: 31 May 2015 - 01:18 pm | Last Updated: 13 Jan 2022 - 12:44 pm

 



Sydney---Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho says his English Premier League champions have a responsibility to field their best team and win their friendly against Sydney FC on Tuesday.
The Chelsea team was mobbed by supporters upon arrival at Sydney airport on Sunday ahead of its first match in Australia for 41 years.
Mourinho's side, owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, finished the recent EPL season eight points clear of 2014 champions Manchester City.
Mourinho left no doubt that he was planning on playing a full strength side against Sydney FC at Sydney's Olympic stadium on Tuesday.
"We feel the responsibility to play well and use our best players. We feel the responsibility to win and give them (the fans) a good experience," the 52-year-old Portuguese manager told a media conference.
"For us it's important as a club, it's a long time since we came here and to come one week after being crowned champions is a big responsibility.
"We always feel responsibility; we were in Bangkok, we went to the stadium and there were 45,000 in blue shirts so you can't lose, you can't just play for fun."
The English Premier League champions beat the Thai All Stars 1-0 in Bangkok for the first stop on their end-of-season tour.
Chelsea skipper John Terry said the team was delighted with the enthusiastic welcome it received from waiting supporters at the airport.
"It was excellent as we came off the plane, their faces lit up and it was overwhelming," Terry said.
"We're used to it now, everywhere we go in the world we get that and we experienced it in Bangkok as well.
"When we first came through it was nice and polite, and then all of a sudden the boys who were filming for their Instagram accounts had to put their phones back in their pockets, but we're really pleased with the reception.
"We're delighted to be here, it's a beautiful place and for many of us it's our first time here.
 

AFP