With just over a week until the World Cup, there’s that usual silent tension regarding potential injuries which could still take players away from the tournament.
That’s no different for Chelsea defender Thiago Silva, who’s been seeing some of his teammates prevented from joining their national teams squad in Qatar.
As the Brazilian was interviewed by TNT Sports this week, he was asked about the recent injuries to Reece James, Ben Chilwell and N’Golo Kante, and admitted that every player carries that fear of something happening to them so close to the World Cup.
“Look, if I tell you that I, I believe the majority, don’t think about it, I’d be lying. I think it goes through our head, because every fixture that goes by, an injured one comes out. So that worry remains, that permanent thing in your head,” Chelsea’s Thiago Silva told TNT Sports.
“However, that’s what I say and what I usually think, as much as we have that nervousness, but I think everything is in God’s hands. I think our path is already written. But it is something that is visible to everyone, something that has been happening regularly. We are not happy with this kind of situation. But we have a lot of faith in God that things will work out.”
At 38 and doing pretty well for Chelsea, Thiago Silva is about to enter the short list of Brazilian players who have featured in four different World Cups. The only footballers who’ve done that before are Castilho, Nilton Santos, Djalma Santos, Pelé, Emerson Leão, Cafu and Ronaldo.
All of them, however, have at least one World Cup title in their record, and the defender now works to get that trophy as well. The closest he got to a final was in 2014, when Brazil reached the semifinals, although he was suspended for the 7-1 defeat to Germany.
