The young side of Chelsea focuses in the final of the Club World Cup when they accept Fluminense on Tuesday, with the Brazilian team manipulated by former Blues defender Thiago Silva who is still strong at the age of 40.
Silva was already a veteran when he signed for Chelsea in 2020 before he received an impressive four -year -old Stint at Stamford Bridge.
One of the best center backs of his generation, Silva arrived in Paris Saint-Germain after eight years and in his first season in Chelsea won the UEFA Champions League.
He played 155 games for the London club and left 12 months ago after helping to supervise the development of some of the young talents who are now regularly under Enzo Maresca.
“He is a legend of football, a top player,” said Marc Cucurella, a teammate of Silva who told English media for two years, adding that the two messages had exchanged about their approaching reunion.
“We have the chance to play against him again and hopefully we can do good things, win and play this game in the final.”
Silva initially made his name at Fluminense, with in the team that reached the Copa Libertadores -Final in 2008 before he lost to Ecuador LDU QUITO.
He returned there when leaving Chelsea and again put on the green, red and white from the Rio de Janeiro outfit that the Copa Libertadores won in 2023.
The Evergreen Brazil -International was then reunited earlier this year with Renato Gaucho, the coach in 2008 who is now in his sixth enchantment.
Fluminense Borussia Dortmund has seen an impressive run at the Club World Cup in the group stage, inter Milan eliminate in the last 16 and become better in the quarterfinals of Saudi powerhouse Al Hilal.
“If you had asked me in advance if we would have come that far, I would have said we were far away,” Silva told Omroep Dazn after the victory over Al Hilal.
“We know the financial size of these teams, the difference is huge, absurd. But often our collective, the family atmosphere we have, gives us our strength that you may not think.”
Brazilian opposition again
It is not only Silva that increases the average age at Fluminense. There is also 44-year-old keeper, Fabio, Vleugel-Back Samuel Xavier on 35 and 37-year-old Argentinian attacker German Cano.
But the man who gives them the X factor is the 27-year-old Colombian winger Jhon Arias, without a doubt one of the players of the tournament.
“I have looked at a number of games they have played and you can see that they are very well organized. They have a number of very good players. The manager is doing fantastic work,” said Maresca, preparing for the Brazilian opposition for the third time at the tournament.
They lost from Flamengo in the group stage, but defeated Palmeiras in the quarterfinals in Philadelphia.
“The energy of Brazilian teams in this competition has been high – probably the reason is because they are at the start of their season while we end the season,” Maresca added.
Chelsea now gets their first taste of the Metlife Stadium, the Hulking 82,500 capacity location in East Rutherford, New Jersey, just outside New York City.
Many of the Maresca players were perhaps not sure what they should make of the new FIFA tournament that came to the end of a campaign in which they finished fourth in the Premier League and the UEFA Conference League won.
But suddenly they are one match of the final, in which they would either come across Real Madrid or PSG.
With Silva Away, Maresca worked with a young team in Chelsea, and the average age of his starting line-up against Palmeiras last Friday was only 24.
More young players also come in, with the 23-year-old Brazilian attacker Joao Pedro, formerly from Fluminense, who made his debut in the quarterfinals.
Brazil Prodigy Estevao Willian, 18, will join Palmeiras prior to the following season and the 20-year-old winger Jamie Gittens has just signed at Borussia Dortmund.
Moises Caicedo, the midfield Linchpin, who is only 23, returns to midfield against Fluminense after the suspension.
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