Luiz Felipe Scolari will tell his Chelsea stars to forget about putting on another five-star show when they face struggling Roma in today’s Champions League clash.
Scolari’s side produced their best performance of the season on Saturday as Middlesbrough were swept aside in a 5-0 thrashing that epitomized the new cavalier spirit flowing through Stamford Bridge.
Just four months after taking charge, Blues boss Scolari has overseen a remarkable change in the public perception of Chelsea.
Scolari’s love of attacking soccer has won over critics who, during the reigns of Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant, derided Chelsea as an unlovable machine who ground their way to success.
Where the Blues would previously have shut up shop after taking the lead, now they flood forward in search of more goals.
But Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou, who scored twice at Middlesbrough, says Scolari has made it clear that winning points is far more important that earning new friends.
“The focus is to win, the more we win the more we reach our goal to finish first. We can win every game, and we have to go for it and show we want to win, Kalou told Chelsea’s Web site.
“The most important thing is that at the end of the game, we win. Every game is difficult, but we have to fight until the end in every game and try to be focused on ourselves,” Kalou said. “It gives confidence that we can bring something to the team, we are really focused on that, and the aim is to win games and score goals. Every game we go with the same spirit.”
With Chelsea’s squad ravaged by injuries to a host of key players including Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, Ashley Cole and Ricardo Carvalho, it is a testament to Scolari’s impact that Chelsea have looked more formidable than ever in recent weeks.
They are in pole position in the Premier League and a win over Roma at the Bridge would put last season’s runners-up firmly on course for the knockout stages in the Champions League.
Scolari could have goalkeeper Petr Cech back from the thigh injury that forced him out of Saturday’s win but, even with most of the other walking wounded likely to be sidelined again, Chelsea are still strong favorites to make it seven points from nine in Europe.
Frank Lampard agrees with Kalou that a victory is also vital to maintain the positive vibe surrounding the club.
“We can’t take our foot off the pedal, because the moment you do that, things can change,” Lampard said. “At the moment we are full of confidence, we have such a strong squad that we are coping with the injuries we have got.”
Like Chelsea, Roma have been suffering an injury crisis but the Italians are finding it much harder to cope.
They have won just twice in seven league games this season and Sunday’s 4-0 home defeat against Inter Milan left them languishing toward the foot of Serie A.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, they were humiliated by Romanian minnows CFR Cluj on Matchday One of the Champions League.
Rumors of dressing room unrest threaten to unsettle the Romans further and boss Luciano Spalletti admits it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain team unity.
“When you are in a difficult moment, keeping it together becomes tough,” he said. “If instead everything is calm in the standings, you score goals you don’t expect.”
Brazil has four teams, more than any other country, in the expanded Club World Cup that kicked off yesterday in the US, but for SE Palmeiras, the competition holds a special meaning: winning it would provide some redemption. Under coach Abel Ferreira since 2020, Palmeiras lifted two Copa Libertadores titles, plus Brazilian league, cup and state championships. Even before Ferreira, it boasted another South American crown and 11 league titles. The only major trophy missing is a world champions’ title. Other Brazilian clubs like Fluminense FC and Botafogo FR, also in the tournament, have never won it either, but the problem for Palmeiras
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in has pleaded with South Korea fans to get behind the team at the 2026 FIFA World Cup after more boos were aimed at coach Hong Myung-bo despite leading them to qualification. South Korea reached next year’s finals in North America without losing a game, but that does not tell the whole story. The country’s soccer association has been in the firing line, having scrambled about to find a successor after sacking the unpopular Jurgen Klinsmann in February last year. They eventually settled on Hong, the decorated former skipper who had an unsuccessful stint as coach in 2013-2014, during which
Lionel Messi drew vast crowds and showed flashes of his brilliance when his Inter Miami side were held to a goalless draw by African giants Al-Ahly as the revamped FIFA Club World Cup got off to a festive start on Saturday. Fans showed up en masse for the Group A clash at the Hard Rock Stadium, home to the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, but Messi could not fully deliver, his best chance coming through a last-second attempt that was deflected onto the crossbar. Inter Miami next face FC Porto on Thursday in Atlanta, while Al-Ahly, who benefited from raucous, massive support, are to
Ferrari’s F1 fortunes might be flagging, but the Italian team start this weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans as favorites, targeting a third consecutive triumph in motorsport’s fabled endurance classic. Roger Federer is acting as celebrity starter with the tennis icon getting the 93rd edition of the jewel in four-wheeled endurance racing’s crown under way tomorrow. Twenty-four hours later, through daylight, darkness and dawn, the 21 elite hypercars are to battle it out over 300 laps (more than 4,000km) in front of a sold-out 320,000 crowd burning the midnight oil with copious quantities of coffee and beer. Ferrari made a triumphant return after
RSS