In light of his recent successes as a manager at Chelsea it is sometimes forgotten that Roberto Di Matteo was a fantastic servant to the club as a player, too.
The Italian stayed with the club for six seasons and made 119 appearances for the Blues. Coupled with his unbelievable success as Chelsea’s manager, it is safe to say that Di Matteo is undoubtedly a Chelsea legend.
His finest moment during his playing career was scoring the opening goal of the 1997 FA Cup final against Middlesbrough. At 42 seconds, it was the fastest goal in FA Cup history until Louis Saha broke the record in 2009. What a goal, too, as Di Matteo carries the ball from his own half and pelts a thunderbolt into the roof of the net (note: be sure to watch Di Matteo’s sublime technique). Chelsea went on to win 2-0 and Di Matteo lifted the first of what would be many trophies for the club.