Chesea beat Club America 2-1 in friendly

AFP - 15 July 2007 08:49

Chelsea´s Ricardo Carvalho (L) battles for a header with Club America´s Ricardo Rojas during the second half of the Disney Friendship Cup football match at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. Chelsea won 2-1.

STANFORD, United States (AFP) - Chelsea had goals from captain John Terry and new signing Florent Malouda as the English Premiership club kicked off a pre-season US tour with a 2-1 victory over Club America of Mexico on Saturday.

Terry headed home the winner in the 83rd minute after Malouda scored the equalizer in the 74th.

Club America had gone ahead in the third minute as the Mexican side turned in a solid performance in front of a crowd that included an enthusiastic group of their fans as well as a large contingent of Chelsea supporters.

The match was the first stop on Chelsea's US Tour, which will see the team head back down to southern California to face South Korea's Samsung Bluewings on Tuesday at the Home Depot Center in Los Angeles - home of the Los Angeles Galaxy and their new star David Beckham.

Former England captain Beckham is expected to make his Galaxy debut when the Major League Soccer team take on Chelsea on Saturday.

Mosqueda, 22, opened the scoring with a lazy shot that deflected off Terry and caught Chelsea keeper Petr Cech on the hop.

Chelsea, playing their first pre-season game after arriving in Los Angeles on Tuesday, struggled to find a rhythm early, and coach Jose Mourinho made nine substitutions at halftime.

They pulled level when Club America keeper Armando Navarrete dropped a cross by Sam Hutchinson right on Malouda's foot.

French international Malouda, whose transfer from Lyon to Chelsea was confirmed on Tuesday, deftly slotted the ball home.

Terry sealed the victory with his header off Malouda's free kick.