Soccer
Former Chelsea defender needs convincing on Blues' chances of winning FIFA Club World Cup
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The last sixteen of the FIFA Club World Cup kicks off today and sees Chelsea back in action as they take on Benfica in Charlotte.
The Blues progressed from the group stage, having finished second in their pool, and booked a place against the Portuguese, who topped their group ahead of Bayern Munich.
Despite a hiccup against Flamengo in the opening round, Enzo Maresca's side are still fancied to go deep into the knockout rounds, but former Chelsea defender William Gallas isn't convinced they can win the tournament.
Speaking exclusively to DAZN News, thanks to Genting Casino, Gallas believes we'll know more about this Blues' side once we get into the quarter-final stage.
"Maybe. They look okay," he said when asked if they can win the Club World Cup.
"I think the real test comes if they reach the quarter-final. They should get that far, but again, there are a lot of tired players, and that can lead to some interesting results.
"But the test of how much they want to win this would come at the quarter-finals, when all of those eight teams remaining must decide how far they’re willing to go after a very long season.
"For me, that is when the competition will start to get really interesting."
The Premier League side came into the competition having bagged a Champions League place and lifted silverware thanks to their Europa Conference League win, and although Gallas thinks there's clear understanding within the team after last year's exploits, we still haven't seen that come to fruition in the States.
Adding, "I think Chelsea now, after they won the Conference League, when you look at the team, the players understand each other, and that helps them play very well.
"They know how to play. Last season it was not so easy. But they did good work and the finish was strong enough. They qualified for the Champions League, they won the Conference League and at the same time, now they have more experience.
"During the Club World Cup, I don't think we are seeing the best of Chelsea for many reasons.
"They won the first game against LA but they lost to Flamengo. They look okay, they just look okay – nothing special, but let’s judge them in a week or two."
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