Chelsea's Joao Pedro ready to start in Club World Cup semi after Rio beach break
Now with fellow forward Liam Delap suspended for Tuesday's semi-final against another Brazilian side, Fluminense, in New York, the 23-year-old is poised to make his first start.
It has been a whirlwind week for Joao Pedro, who had been on holiday when the call from Chelsea came, but he says he is primed for action.
'I was on holiday,' he said. 'I was in Brazil – yes, beach, Brazilian food, spending time with friends.
'But I was always training – I have a personal trainer – so I was ready. Imagine if I didn't train and Chelsea called me to come, then it would be more difficult for me.
'If I'm going to start or not, it's not my decision, but I will try to improve, be ready for (head coach) Enzo (Maresca) and if he needs me we will see.'
Joao Pedro, who appeared as a second-half substitute in the 2-1 win over Palmeiras, began his professional career with Fluminense.
He said: 'Of course I spent a lot of time and years there. I grew up there and it will be an unbelievable experience, but now I play for Chelsea so I need to focus on my team and who plays better will win the game.'
Joao Pedro's Brighton career ended under a cloud. He received a three-game ban after being sent off at Brentford in April and was then dropped for their last two matches following a reported training group bust-up with team-mate Jan Paul van Hecke.
Asked about the latter incident, he said: 'I think the people who know me, know my character, but when two players want to win, these things happen and this is normal.
'I now play for Chelsea so I just want to talk about Chelsea. It was just two players in the moment, we both wanted to win.'
It is not yet clear which position Joao Pedro will play at Chelsea, with Delap and Nicolas Jackson also competing for the centre-forward's spot.
'Delap has a style, Jackson another and I have my way, but I think that's good for Chelsea,' he added.
'I think who brings more good things to the team is going to play. Everyone will have to work hard and then Enzo will decide.'
Asked about this selection dilemma at his pre-match press conference, Maresca said: 'I've said many times, I prefer to have five players scoring 10, 12 goals each than just once striker scoring 40 goals.
'But I think Joao can play in all the attacking positions for us. He can play wide, he can be inside or he can play as a nine.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Ferguson set for medical before loan move to Roma
Brighton striker Evan Ferguson will have a medical with Italian side Roma ahead of joining the Italian club on is attempting to rebuild his career after injury and loss of form resulted in him dropping down the pecking order at the Seagulls. He joined West Ham on loan for the second half of last season but made only eight appearances and started just once under former boss Graham have been in talks with Brighton after earmarking the Republic of Ireland forward to fill the void left by Tammy Abraham, who is playing under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on loan at Turkish club was pictured on social media meeting Roma fans and signing autographs in advance of the move to the Serie A 20-year-old was nominated for the PFA Young Player of the Year award following a stellar 2022-23 campaign, when he scored nine goals and made his senior international he has scored just one goal at club level since November 2023 and was unlikely to play a significant role under Fabien Hurzeler at the start of the current campaign.
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Van Poortvliet makes upbeat admission after England battle past USA
The Leicester Tigers star, 24, was part of Steve Borthwick's team that beat the USA 40-5 in Washington DC on Saturday night to round off a summer clean sweep of victories after an impressive 2-0 win in Argentina. The match in the American capital kicked off an hour later than planned due to a lightning strike in the area, with the game then halted by a further half an hour on 29 minutes when another struck within 10 miles of the ground when England were 14-0 up. The disruption followed several similar incidents at the recent Club World Cup in the US, with champions Chelsea's clash against Benfica delayed by nearly two hours after the Portuguese giants endured an even longer disruption against Auckland City. Scrum-half Van Poortvliet, one of six England try-scorers at Audi Field, admits the stop-start nature of the contest hampered England's fluency but hopes experiencing it as a group will prepare them in case a similar scenario unfolds in the future. 'I've never experience it before,' he said 'Going into a game, warming up, having it cut off then again after 20 odd minutes makes it really hard. 'It definitely does take it out of you a little bit – but it's probably great to have experienced now. 'You never know situations that might happen in big games in the future, so now we've all experienced that it's probably great for us. 'The staff were brilliant but we probably came out a bit slow at the start of the game. But we came out a lot better after the second stoppage.' Van Poortvliet, Curtis Langdon, Luke Northmore, Cadan Murley, Harry Randall and debutant Gabriel Oghre all scored to make it three transatlantic wins from three and extend England's winning run to seven matches – their longest streak since back in 2020. Langdon, Northmore and Murley – post-half an hour delay – all dotted down in the opening period that also saw USA fly-half Chris Hilsenbeck pick up a yellow card. And Van Poortvliet, Randall and Oghre added three more in the second to help England power to victory. USA grabbed a late consolation through Shilo Klein to give the home fans who remained something to cheer about but England's work was done as they ended their triumphant tour in style. England will now enjoy their summer break before gearing up for crunch autumn internationals against the likes of Australia and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. And Van Poortvliet, England's matchwinner in the second Test against Argentina last weekend, added: 'It was by no means the greatest game to watch today but it's good to end on a win. 'It's been a great few weeks and we wanted to make sure we ended on a high. 'I've loved these few weeks with the lads – it's been an amazing group and it's such good fun. 'We're slightly disappointed with the performance but we're really happy with how the tour's gone in general and to get the win.' Purchase your tickets to the Autumn Nations Series at Allianz Stadium
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Relieved Carpenter relishes making long-awaited England debut in USA
The Leeds-born star, 23, made his international bow as part of Steve Borthwick's team that beat the USA 40-5 in Washington DC on Saturday night to round off a summer clean sweep of victories after an impressive 2-0 win in Argentina. But the match in the American capital kicked off an hour later than planned due to a lightning strike in the area, with the game then halted by a further half an hour on 29 minutes when another struck within 10 miles of the ground when England were 14-0 up. The disruption followed several similar incidents at the recent Club World Cup in the US, with champions Chelsea's clash against Benfica delayed by nearly two hours after the Portuguese giants endured an even longer disruption against Auckland City. Sale Sharks full-back Carpenter, watched on by dad Will, mum Jackie, partner Federica and brother Josh at Audi Field, was one of six players to be handed their debuts alongside fellow starters Max Ojomoh and Arthur Clark. And asked about how the delays affected him, he said: 'Most of us getting new caps were just hoping the game was going to start, to be honest! 'Thankfully the weather held out eventually – there are a lot of happy boys in there and it's been a really special tour. 'It's probably not one the lads expected – it was probably the longest game of rugby a lot of the boys have had. 'But to go out there and get the win makes it very special. 'We've got a lot of strong leaders in there who led the way, kept us composed and got us chilled out and fired up at the right time. 'Mentally it's quite tough when you're about to start a game, then come off again. 'But I thought the boys handled it really well – to get three wins out of three is a great way to do it. 'The connections boys have made is massive and there are lots of happy faces in the dressing room right now. 'It was definitely special [to have my family here] – they're the reason I'm here. They've supported me throughout as a young one and as a professional. 'For them to be here for my first one is massively important to me.' Curtis Langdon, Luke Northmore, Cadan Murley, Jack van Poortvliet, Harry Randall and debutant Gabriel Oghre all scored to make it three transatlantic wins from three and extend England's winning run to seven matches – their longest streak since back in 2020. Carpenter nearly got on the scoresheet himself only for his dream debut try to be denied after a narrowly-adjudged Murley knock-on. USA grabbed a late consolation through Shilo Klein to give the home fans who remained something to cheer about but England's work was done as they ended their triumphant tour in style. England will now enjoy their summer break before gearing up for crunch autumn internationals against the likes of Australia and New Zealand at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. And Carpenter, who delivered a rock-solid display on debut, is desperate to be involved. 'That's definitely a goal of mine,' he added. 'Whether it happens or not I don't know – I've got to go back and perform for Sale now. 'We'll definitely enjoy the break and hopefully when autumn comes round I'm still performing and can get a few more caps.' Purchase your tickets to the Autumn Nations Series at Allianz Stadium
