Chelsea Players Celebrate Rob Green Coming On For His Debut In 88th Minute

TEN months after he signed for Chelsea Football Club, veteran goalkeeper Robert Green made his highly-anticipated debut on Wednesday night, coming off the bench in a friendly against New England Revolution.

The 39-year-old was brought on in the 88th minute as his long wait for first team minutes finally came to an end.

And moments after manager Maurizio Sarri gave him the call, Green's teammates decided to make a big deal of the situation, surrounding the former West Ham shot-stopper almost immediately.

Eden Hazard, David Luiz, Marcos Alonso and Olivier Giroud all celebrated his rare appearance, throwing their hands in the air before he finally entered the frame.

Green went on to preserve Chelsea's clean sheet as they walked away 3-0 winners, with goals from Ross Barkley (2) and Olivier Giroud sealing the win.

But the headlines belonged to the former England international, who will probably never make another appearance for The Blues again.

Social media certainly picked up on his unforgettable four minute cameo in the U.S.

Green has 267 Premier League appearances under his belt, but these days he serves as Chelsea's third-choice goalkeeper - a position that has been described as "the loneliest in football".

In an in-depth feature on the BBC, where he's detailed what it's like being a third-choice goalkeeper, he revealed that while he's still active and involved, his routine for away games sounds like great fun.

"I go to all of the meetings, do all of the pre-match, do the warm-up and help in every way you can, whether it is collecting balls, saving shots or crossing balls in," he told BBC Sport.

"Then, when the players are ready to come out on to the pitch, you are getting changed and more often than not at away games I find a cup of tea and go and sit in the stand."

Rob Green

Nothing beats a nice cuppa tea, after all.

Green added that he doesn't get the same level of motivation as he did when he was younger but that's to be expected as he turns 40 next year.

Topics: SPORT, Football News, Chelsea, News, Football, West Ham

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

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