Marc Cucurella told Pedro Neto that he believes it is his 'Destiny' to score in their club World Cup quarterfinal versus Palmeiras on Friday in honor of Diogo Jota.
It is not guaranteed that Neto will appear because Chelsea leaves it to the Portugal International to personally decide after the death of his international teammate.
But Cucurella told reporters on the Lincoln Financial Field of Philadelphia on Thursday evening: he was sad in the morning and it was not his best moment. But we tried to stay together and in the afternoon he was a little better.
“I told him that if he starts playing, he will score because that is fate. Hopefully we can show his love and all the good friends that we are and devote the goal to him.
“It's a bad time. We send all our love to the family, the woman, the children and I do it from me, the entire Chelsea team and football. Football is sometimes not important. The most important thing is that we show respect and all our love.
“I saw it as soon as I woke up. It was a difficult moment because these things can happen to all of us at any time and then you start to think if you are not feeling well, or you don't give 100 percent or feel s *** when these things happen, it is important to be happy and live every day. '
Whether he expects Neto to be against Palmeiras at the Chelsea team, Cucurella said: 'I think so. The manager and he must decide, but it is important that Pedro feels good.
'Football is secondary, but tomorrow is a long day and whatever they decide will be good.
“But at the moment he is a player in shape and I think Pedro can help us in this game.”
Neto scored three goals in as many games at the World Cup for Chelsea, who want to beat Palmeiras to set up a semi-final with Fluminense or Al-Hilal.