Azpilicueta’s Chelsea hero status secured with another memorable final performance – Talk Chelsea

Cesar Azpilicueta lifted the Club World Cup on Saturday, and in doing so completed the full set of trophies available to him at Chelsea.

It took him just ten years to collect them all, although there’s been no shortage of twists and turns through that decade. Managers, teammates and formations have come and gone, but Azpilicueta has remained constant. Some of those titles he won as a left back, some as a right back, and some as a central defender, but throughout he has never given anything less than astonishing effort and commitment.

His ascent to captain and team leader in the last few years raised some eyebrows initially, with plenty of fans and pundits looking for a more glamorous name to wear the armband. But for any manager looking for a deputy who leads by spotless example, both on and off the pitch, there is no better option.

The incident on Saturday, where Azpilicueta picked up the ball to take the penalty in extra time and soaked up all the mind games and pressure of the situation, only to hand it over to Kai Havertz to do the deed, was a perfect example.

It was an inspired moment of captaincy, and it told you so much about the Spaniard. Seeing him hold the ball for that period was particularly jarring for Chelsea fans watching not just because he wasn’t the expected penalty taker – but more because he is the last player who you would expect to try and steal the glory for himself. He is the team, and the team is Azpilicueta. The moment he had it in his hands, those fans knew something was up, and once it became clear what had happened, admiration for the club stalwart reached new heights once again.

Azpi is now on 459 appearances for Chelsea, 35 short of Petr Cech’s record as the foreign player with the most games for the club. In order to break that record, he will have to stay another season. For that reason, and for the many other qualities he brings, there is hope we get one more year of Cesar.

But even if the 32 year old does leave, missing that one record won’t bother him for a moment. For the ultimate team player, there could be no satisfaction greater than winning every trophy you can win for your club, and that is a historic achievement he has now checked off.