Photo: Granada / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons
France international Sandy Baltimore found the net as Chelsea Women thrashed Auckland 7-0 in a pre-season friendly on Saturday, continuing their tour of New Zealand and Australia.
Baltimore described the trip as a personal first. "New Zealand is really, really far away! But it's a good country, I have enjoyed being here," she said. "It was really special to see my face on the mural at Eden Park. I hope it inspires young girls who like to play football."
The forward highlighted the intensity of the pre-season programme. "The training has been really good so far. Pre-season is really important to make sure we are ready for the first game. The sessions have been really intense but good fun," Baltimore said.
Chelsea are set to move on to Australia, where Baltimore will also be visiting for the first time. "I'm really looking forward to going to Australia next. I'm excited to see Sydney, maybe do some fun activities. It's going to be really fun to go to the zoo," she added.
The squad is scheduled to face the A-League All-Stars before returning home, rounding off a pre-season tour that Baltimore called "an amazing experience in this part of the world."