Mateo Kovacic has already played 26 matches this season and faces another on Saturday afternoon. Croatia will take on Morocco looking to claim the title of third best team in the world after being knocked out of contention for the World Cup by Argentina.
The Chelsea midfielder has persisted through a 2022/23 that has seen a domestic fixture list condensed to facilitate the international tournament despite having suffered with an injury issue during pre-season. Kovacic has dealt with a knee injury since that time, and the issue has been managed throughout the season, though the 28-year-old has still barely missed a game.
The former Inter Milan and Real Madrid ace has not minced his words about the condition of his teammates and himself. It's an update that Graham Potter will have expected but be unhappy to hear.
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Speaking ahead of this side's third place play-off, he said: "We are exhausted, many of us will be exhausted when we come back to our clubs but this is what we love and we will come back, rest and then focus on the next six months for our clubs."
It is an issue that all clubs will have to deal with and while Chelsea have already seen the likes of Cesar Azpilicueta, Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic, Kalidou Koulibaly and Edouard Mendy return, the Blues' England stars who reached the quarter-final of the competition are yet to return to Cobham.
Those involved in the World Cup have been provided around a week off before returning to work under Potter so far. That would see Kovacic, and Hakim Ziyech who has been involved in Morocco's campaign so far, return to Stamford Bridge just days ahead of Chelsea's return to action versus Bournemouth.
That tight turnaround was a concern of Potter in November, with the mental toll of competition as much of a worry as the physical, regardless of a team's success.
Potter said: "I could be selfish [and ask them to come back]. That's the challenge of having the World Cup in the middle because the alternative is that you don't go and celebrate despite winning the World Cup, and you are back here in training.
"Even then, it will be difficult because they've just played a game, whatever the date is, and then they've got to recover. Emotionally, how long does it take to recover from a World Cup final? It could take weeks. They might be on open-top buses here, there and everywhere. And then they need a three-week holiday to get over that celebration. Of course, we are English, so it has been a long time since we've known about that.
"Who is going to be in the final? Hopefully England from our perspective, but who knows? On that point, if you've lost the World Cup final. How long does it take to get over that? Probably not three or four days."
Chelsea will not see any of their players in the final, and only saw two in the semi-finals. That will have provided some benefit to the Blues, particularly because the players involved can still see their campaigns as a success despite suffering defeat.
Kovacic added: "All of the others joked that Ziyech and me would come home first... and here we are almost at the end of the World Cup. Both of us are very proud of what our national teams have achieved."
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