Cech refused to accept that Chelsea, who faced Sunderland on Saturday before heading to Newcastle Airport for their charter flight to Tokyo, are out of the Premier League title race and said that success in the forthcoming tournament could provide a "great lift" for the rest of the campaign.
"We are still in the race for the Premier League although there's still some disadvantage, which is not the best.
"At this stage of the season when you still have more than 20 games to be played, you can still have a go.
"There's still the possibility that the other teams will drop some points."
In Japan, Chelsea are expected to meet Brazil's Corinthians in the final in Yokohama on Dec 16 as long as they do not slip up against South Korean's Ulsan Hyundai or Mexican side Monterrey in the same venue on Dec 13.
"How many times in your life do you have the possibility to be a world club champion?" Cech said.
"I've had to wait eight years for the opportunity to play in this tournament and the club has never had the chance to play in it before.
"If you win a major trophy like that before Christmas then it gives a lot of joy for everyone, for the supporters and for the club and it's a boost of confidence as well.
"It can be a great lift. It's something that when you go through a period when it's not happening in the league that it can help."
However, despite looking forward to the tournament, Cech said the Premier League and the Football Association needed to do more to help English clubs in Europe and in international competitions.
Chelsea are furious that they could not, for example, get Saturday's match postponed.
"It's not because of us going to Japan because it happened to Man United when they went to Japan also.
"It's a huge honour for any competition to have World Club champions."
He added that not enough is done to help clubs in England.
"Look at everyone else [Shakhtar] Donetsk, before Champions League matches, every game is on a Friday," the goalkeeper said.
"Every German team prior to Champions League plays on Friday.
"They always get the advantage to have more time to recover and make it a successful year in the European cups. Now everyone is saying Man City are out, Chelsea are out.
"Last year three teams were out quickly and everyone starts questioning what's happening with the English teams but sometimes the advantage of playing earlier than everyone else makes a big difference. Somebody should look at this.
"Not because of us but for everyone. Someone should try and support English clubs when they play in Europe."
No comments:
Post a Comment