Mata ready for World Cup ´party´

13 December 2012 14:42

Chelsea midfielder Juan Mata said Sunday's Club World Cup final between his side and Brazilian club Corinthians will be a 'football party'.

The Spaniard scored the first and forced an own-goal for the third as the Blues ran out comfortable 3-1 winners over Mexican side Monterrey to seal their spot in the final.

Mata admitted Rafael Benitez's men are taking the competition seriously and was happy with the way they applied themselves against Monterrey.

"I am so glad today for winning, the way that we won, for us it's a very important tournament (and) we want to win this trophy, to be world champions on Sunday and we will do our best to win," he said.

"I am very happy with the goal and the result, I think we started really well, we were really focused on scoring more goals and we did. 3-1 is a good result for us."

Corinthians secured their spot with a 1-0 win over Al Ahly but created several chances and could have won by a greater margin.

The 24-year-old is wary of the threat the Brazilians pose, but is confident Chelsea will make the trip to Japan worthwhile by bringing home the trophy.

He added: "We have confidence about winning but we know Corinthians are one of the best teams in South America. It will be a football party and hopefully we will win."

FIFA Club World Cup: Monterrey 1 Chelsea 3

13 December 2012 13:48

Chelsea coasted into the final of the FIFA Club World Cup with a 3-1 victory over Monterrey at the International Stadium in Yokohama.

The attacking midfield triumvirate of Eden Hazard, Oscar and Juan Mata sparkled as the Champions League holders eased to the win in the semi-final clash.

A well-taken first-half finish from Mata gave the Blues the lead, before a deflected Fernando Torres strike and an own goal from Darvin Chavez promptly after half-time helped see off the challenge of the CONCACAF champions, although Aldo De Nigris did score a superb consolation late on for the Mexican side.

A bright start from the west London side was rewarded in the 17th minute when Mata opened the scoring in style with a sweeping finish after an intricate passing move involving Ashley Cole and Oscar on the left-hand side.

The Blues had come close to taking the lead on three occasions prior to the former Valencia man breaking the deadlock, with David Luiz, Hazard and Branislav Ivanovic all threatening.

Luiz, in particular, impressed for Chelsea, the Brazil international looking comfortable playing in an unfamiliar midfield role in the absence of Oriol Romeu, after the Masia graduate suffered knee ligament damage against Sunderland on Saturday.

Monterrey grew into the game after going behind, with Jesus Corona's pace and trickery posing Cesar Azpilicueta problems down the left, and but for some wasteful finishing from De Nigris the Mexican side could well have equalised before the break.

Whatever Benitez said to his side during the interval seemed to do the trick as they came racing out of the blocks, scoring twice before the second half was five minutes old.

Torres made it 2-0 just 20 seconds after the restart following a blistering run and pass from Hazard down the left. The striker's shot appeared to be going way off target before it took a considerable deflection and flew into the back of the net.

Chelsea then added a third moments later courtesy of an own goal from Chavez. The former Atletico Madrid forward was involved once more, it was his enticing through-ball that set up Mata, who then looked to pass to Oscar before the intervention of Chavez did the youngster's work for him by diverting the ball past Jonathan Orozco.

The two goals in quick succession had appeared to have knocked the wind out of Monterrey's sails before De Nigris smashed home a consolation goal in added time at the end of the second half to make it 3-1.

Benitez now has a chance to equal Pep Guardiola's achievement by winning a second Club World Cup when Chelsea take on Corinthians in the final on December 16.

Benitez won the tournament with Inter back in 2010.

Monterrey out to test Chelsea in Japan

13 December 2012 05:10

Head coach Victor Manuel Vucetich has reminded Monterrey to 'show our quality' when they face Chelsea in the Club World Cup semi-final.

The Mexican club defeated Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea 3-1 to qualify for the semi-finals in Japan and, while Chelsea are widely expected to win Thursday's game in Yokohama, Vucetich claims his team will not be scared in attacking the Champions League title holders.

The 57-year-old head coach wants his players to 'write a new page in Monterrey's history' and make Chelsea the first European team to miss out on the Club World Cup final since the tournament's current format began in 2005.

"I'm sure Chelsea will score goals tomorrow," Vucetich said.

"They are a strong, physical side and technically skilful.

"We have great respect for them, they are one of the top teams in the world and in the Premier League but we have talent too.

"We will look to show our quality.

"You always want to win the biggest tournaments regardless who your opponents.

"We want to write a new page in Monterrey's history."

But Vucetich is under no illusions about the task ahead of his team, especially since Fernando Torres has found his scoring touch again with four goals in Chelsea's past two games.

"(Chelsea) have excellent attacking players," Vucetich said.

"They are also fast and have skilful players like (Juan) Mata, (Eden) Hazard and (Victor) Moses, they have a intelligent players as well and they are a very good team.

"They also have an in-form striker in Fernando Torres, he moves quickly and takes chances."

Monterrey are involved in the Club World Cup for the first time in their history.

Torres wants another World Cup

10 December 2012 19:27

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres insists the Club World Cup is an important competition, despite it not attracting much attention in Europe.

The Spaniard is hoping to complete the European and World Cup double with Chelsea, a feat which he has already achieved while playing nationally for Spain.

And after seeing footage of Corinthians fans welcoming their side to Japan, Torres revealed that he feels the tournament is very important and that he plans to take it seriously.

"How many people don't take this tournament seriously, or don't think it is like the real World Cup? It is for the clubs," he told Chelsea's official website.

"You ask the South American people. David Luiz showed me a video of Corinthians fans at the airport, it was full of fans cheering the team and travelling to Japan to support, so it is important.

"In Europe maybe we don't give it as much attention, and to some people it might not mean much, but to me it does, so this is not a holiday or a break, this is a World Cup.

"It's nice to be involved, and maybe to be able to say you are a world champion. The European Super Cup was just as important to us and we lost, so we don't want that disappointment."

Although important to the 28-year-old, he conceded that winning the tournament in Japan would not make up for the Blues' disappointment at exiting the Champions League at the group stage.

"It wouldn't make up for the Champions League, they are different things," he said.

"It was a dream to win it last season and we wanted to do it again this time to be the first team to do two in a row, and it's a big disappointment to go out in the group stage.

"Nothing can make up for it but we must look forward, we are in a different competition now, the Europa League, and we want to win that too to play in and win another Super Cup."

Oscar: Chelsea determined for Club World Cup success

10 December 2012 01:43

Chelsea midfielder Oscar believes the Club World Cup is no meaningless exercise and is determined to return to Stamford Bridge with the trophy.

The Blues kick off their tournament at the semi-final stage against Mexican outfit Monterrey and, if victorious, will face either Egypt's Al Ahly or Brazil's Corinthians in next Sunday's final at the International Stadium in Yokohama.

The tournament has been derided in some quarters due to its mid-season timing and choice of Japan as the location.

But the Brazil international insists this will not stop both him and his team-mates from putting in every effort to join Manchester United as the second English winner of the tournament.

"For Chelsea, we are representing Europe and we are going there with a determination to do it well," the 21-year-old told World Soccer Digest.

"We are going to try to win this competition this year. Every title is important for Chelsea. If we win it, it is going to give us so much more confidence and strength for the rest of the season."

The ex-Internacional schemer, who has scored five goals in 19 appearances for his new club so far this season, believes that outside of England, and particularly in South America, the competition holds far greater prestige.

"In Brazil, this has always been seen as the opportunity for our clubs to play one of the big European teams," he said.

"It’s the chance to test themselves against a big team from Europe and to go and show their football to the world. For years, it was the only way they could face a stronger team, a different team from a different culture.

"The South American teams have always taken this competition seriously but I think all the big clubs will go to Japan this year and give everything."

This year will mark Oscar's second taste of the Club World Cup, after previously failing to reach the final with Internacional in 2010 following defeat in the semi-finals to African side TP Mazembe, a disappointment that he believes will help him spur him to the challenge of making Chelsea world champions.

"We were all expecting to get to the final and it was such a big surprise when we lost. I'm pleased to have this second opportunity," he said.

Vucetich relishing Chelsea match-up

9 December 2012 15:01

Monterrey coach Victor Vucetich was delighted after his side booked a semi-final meeting with Chelsea in the FIFA Club World Cup.

The Mexican outfit will play the UEFA Champions League winners in the last four of the tournament after defeating Korean side Ulsan 3-1 on Sunday.

Monterrey were a class above in the win, with Argentine Cesar Delgado bagging a double and Jesus Corona also getting on the scoresheet.

And Vucetich wants his side to play the same way when they meet Rafael Benitez's men on Thursday.

"Chelsea are a very famous team in the world, but we want to do our best," Vucetich said.

"We want to play again like we did in today's game. We also have players with international experience who will be important."

Ulsan Hyundai boss Kim Ho-Gon was disappointed after his side missed out on the chance to play Chelsea, who sit third in the Premier League.

"The standard of world football is very high," Kim said.

"I'm very disappointed. But next time (in this competition) we want to show we can play better football than we did today."

Despite winning their past two matches, Chelsea previously went without a victory in six.

And with the Stamford Bridge outfit struggling for form, Ulsan goalkeeper Kim Young Kwang believes Monterrey could pull off an upset.

"I learned a lot about football from today's defeat, there are a lot of really good football players in the world," he said.

"Monterrey plays very well, they might beat Chelsea."