Club World Cup: Winning this trophy means the world to us, insists Mata

 
Simon Johnson12 December 2012

Juan Mata insists Chelsea are taking the FIFA World Club Cup seriously because winning the trophy will provide the lift they need to challenge Manchester United for the Premier League.

Chelsea play Mexican side Monterrey in Yokohama, Japan, tomorrow morning for a place in Sunday’s final.

There have been suggestions that the tournament is an inconvenience to Chelsea and that it means more to the other clubs, including Monterrey and Brazilian club Corinthians, to come out on top. But with Chelsea earning their place courtesy of winning the Champions League in May, Mata believes it’s crucial they play with pride and end the year on a high.

The team have struggled recently and are already 10 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester United. By the time Chelsea play their next League game, against Aston Villa on December 23, they could be 16 points off top spot. But Mata believes winning the FIFA Club World Cup will provide a massive boost for them to start mounting a fightback on their return. “It will be perfect,” he said. “We know that December is a crucial month for English teams.

“We are playing a lot of games in the Premier League and are now in Japan but if we win this trophy it will be a big step forward for the rest of the season.

“Once we are back from Asia we have to keep winning games in the Premier League. And let’s not forget that we are alive in the rest of the competitions too — FA Cup, Capital One Cup and Europa League. The club have never won this one and we will try to add it to our trophy cabinet.

“It [the FIFA Club World Cup] is huge for Corinthians and for the Mexican team. It’s amazing for them but for us as well. We are playing in this tournament because we won the Champions League, which was one of the best moments in our lives and now we want to be world champions. It will make it an amazing year for Chelsea and for all the supporters.

“There are a lot of great players who have never had the chance to play in this tournament and we don’t want to miss it. You never know when you will be playing this again.

“We have got into a routine on the training pitch [in Japan[ and are focused on what the manager wants us to do. It’s not easy because everything has changed, the ball, the pitch, even the clothes, but we are trying to train properly and be focused on the first game.”

Chelsea are perceived to be at a disadvantage because they arrived so late into Japan, which is nine hours ahead of London, having flown straight there after their League victory at Sunderland on Saturday. Manager Rafa Benitez has not had much time to prepare his players but Victor Moses insists they will be ready to face Monterrey.

He added: “The first days were a little bit tiring because everyone had jet-lag and it was all about getting used to the time difference but Tuesday was all right and everybody was looking forward to the training. We are used to it now and we are enjoying every minute of it.

“We are working on getting our team shape right, making sure we are in the right positions, and soon we will start talking about the opposition and how we are going to beat them.”

Gary Cahill is backing Benitez to win over the Chelsea fans. Boos and jeers welcomed the Spaniard at Stamford Bridge when he was unveiled as manager last month but Cahill believes he can appease the supporters by bringing home some silverware.

He said: “Everyone wants to win trophies. If that’s the case I’m sure he will win people over. The only way you can win people over is by getting results. It’s [the FIFA Club World Cup] a good distraction for us to be here. It’s a fantastic trophy to win and will enable us to kick on for the second half of the season.”

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