Thiago Silva has dismissed the accusations that European teams don't care about winning the Club World Cup and demanded that people give Chelsea more respects.
The Blues overcame Al-Hilal 1-0 in the semi-final of the competition thanks to Romelu Lukaku's strike and are set to face Brazil's Palmeiras in the final of the competition.
Chelsea failed in their last attempt to win the competition when they fell to Corinthians in 2012 under the guidance of Rafael Benitez.
Since then, the winner of the Champions League has also earned the title of World Club champions in each edition of the competition.
The 37-year-old Brazilian international made it clear that Chelsea were here to repeat that feat, as the Blues look to earn the trophy missing from their repertoire.
Silva told Band, via Sport Witness: "That [don’t care about the Club World Cup] doesn’t exist. Especially Chelsea, who lost this competition in 2012 to Corinthians. We know the responsibility of playing this competition. We have plenty of motivation to win this tournament. It’s a title and it’s very important, because Chelsea still don’t have it.
“People have to have more respect for Chelsea. We didn’t get here by chance, and neither did Palmeiras. We came to win. We know it won’t be easy, and Palmeiras know it too. I hope we can emerge victorious, as I lost a few times to Palmeiras. Our motivation is up there, there’s no such thing as ‘Europeans don’t care about the Club World Cup’.”
Those thoughts echo the ambitions of Mateo Kovacic who is desperate to win the competition. The Croatian was adamant not to downplay the route it takes to reach the tournaments zenith.
Following Wednesday's win he said: "We know what it takes to come to such a big tournament because you need to win the Champions League, so we need to appreciate this moment and to not take it for granted. To reach a Club World Cup final is very difficult and we are there on Saturday.
"We are desperate to win this trophy. We could be the first team in Chelsea history to bring this trophy to London so we are happy that we are in such a big final and we will do everything to win it on Saturday."
While Brazilian teams have won the competition four times since it's launch in 2000, Palmeiras have also not tasted success.
Former PSG star Silva is under no illusion of the challenge Chelsea's opponents will present however.
Silva said: "Palmeiras are huge. I was happy to face them and I know the strength of this team and especially the fans. We know that with the presence of fans here, their team is much stronger. There is no favourite for this game.”
