Marc Cucurella details Chelsea motivation ahead of Club World Cup final
Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella insists the players are driven by glory rather than money. The Blues stand to earn a staggering £97m jackpot if they win the Club World Cup as they face Paris Saint Germain in the MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
That would be a huge financial boost for the club but Cucurella insists the players are driven by being champions of the world and wearing a special commemorative gold badge on the shirts.
Cucurella said: "I think this is more for the owners and sporting directors but I think we know that if we win it, we have the badge on the T-shirt for a couple of years so I think this is a good thing to motivate the team.
"It's also the first time they've done this competition so we can be the first team to win this competition, there's a lot of things that can motivate and it can give us confidence and energy. I think for me, if we do it, if we achieve it, it's amazing because it's the first club to do it. I think all the people remember us because it's the first club to win this trophy.
'And I think that is amazing. And always, every week that we put on the Chelsea shirt, we have this badge here. I think all of us, and all of our fans will feel very proud of us, because I think we have the experience to have this on in matches for four years. And all the people that look at us or we play against them, we can show them we are the winners and we can be proud of all the work that we are doing.
'As well, the first thing said in the squad is that this is the first time winning this tournament and to have the badge here. And then when I take my t-shirt home and I have the badge, I can give it to my friends. I think it (will be) a good experience and hopefully we can do it.'
Cucurella also spoke about his turn in front of the TV cameras after starring in Amazon show Married to the Game with his partner Claudia Rodriguez and they discussed their son Mateo's autism. It gave an insight into the other side of his life but also showed that footballers are not immune to criticism and life's challenges like everyone else.
The left-back said: "It's natural, sometimes people don't understand, and then you put yourself and your family in front of everyone. Sometimes you can have criticism. To be fair, I'm very happy because we could show that we are footballers but we have normal lives and normal problems that all people have. It was very good. Personally, I didn't expect that people would love it in this way.
"I was not nervous but you know, if things don't go well, people might say: 'Oh it's because he's not focused on football, he's focused on filming this and that.' But it was very nice.
"We were not filming an interview but it was kind of this, and it was very long. The producers asked a lot of things. This was a moment of the interview and yeah, I think because we feel very comfortable, and very natural, it went like that.
"I think it was very good because: OK, I play for Chelsea. I won the Euros. But we have a lot of problems that a lot of families can have, and it's true that sometimes it's difficult to get there because people don't know. But if you have the possibility to show that, OK, all the people think that you have a perfect life, but it's not like this, I think. If we can help people in this way, it's very nice."
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