The above quote “Benjamin Button of Football” is credited to the best coach in the world according to the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), Thomas Tuchel.
The German head referred to his defence general, Thiago Silva as the “Benjamin Button of Football” after watching the Brazilian dominate the London derby against Spurs.
Thiago Silva was named man of the match as Chelsea defeated Palmeiras 2-1 in Abu Dhabi to lift the FIFA Club’s World Cup on Saturday. The Brazilian received the Golden Ball reserved for the best player on the pitch, despite giving away the penalty through which Palmeiras drew level in the second half.
“I feel immense happiness, I’ve waited 37 years for this moment. I’ve made a lot of sacrifices for this. It’s so, so difficult to become a world champion. I’m really happy. We’re all really happy. It was a really difficult game. In finals like this small details make the difference. They got a penalty through handball, we got a penalty through handball. But I think overall we deserved the result, we deserved to leave the pitch as world champions.”
Thiago Silva told FIFA after inspiring Chelsea to FIFA Club World Cup glory.
After winning 25 major trophies during 12 seasons in European football with AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain, Silva signed for Chelsea on a free transfer in the summer of 2020. Following a relatively slow start, the 37-year-old quickly established himself as a key lynchpin for the Blues’ backline and played a crucial role in their Champions League triumph last season.
The Brazilian is five months older than Cristiano Ronaldo and his performances sparked comparisons with the Portuguese, who earlier on Saturday went without scoring for a sixth consecutive game as Manchester United drew 1-1 with Southampton.
In a the game played at the Bridge not too long ago, Thiago Silva absolutely bossed Harry Kane and ensured the Englishman had little sniff at goal. After ensuring the Spurs’ attack were sufficiently kept at bay, the ageless Brazilian took the long walk down to the edge of the Tottenham Hotspurs box after Callum Hudson Odoi had been fouled and with Mason Mount standing over a dead ball on the far left hand side, Thiago ensured he wasn’t to be kept offside and remained strong while maintaining his onside position and holding off Ben Davies before leaping highest to brilliantly meet Mount’s in-swinging cross with a sumptuous flick with his head that sent the ball into the bottom right corner of Hugo Lloris’ goal.
That goal sent Stamford Bridge into a frenzy and the Brazilian was rightfully mobbed by his teammates as he ran to celebrate with a slide reminiscence of Didier Drogba.
After the game, the Brazilian’s positive impact was rightfully acknowledged by Thomas Tuchel and the German did confess he wasn’t surprised with how well the Brazilian has done since his arrival at the club.
Since his debut premier league game at West Brom where he made an error leading to a goal, the iconic Brazilian has very rarely put a foot wrong. Thiago Silva continues to be a reliable figure for the Blues at the heart of defence. So far this season, the former PSG behemoth has made 28 appearances across competitions, recording three goals and two assists.
Thanks to the Brazilian, Thomas Tuchel’s men have the third-best defensive record in the Premier League this term. The Blues have conceded just 18 goals in 24 games. They’ve also let in just four goals in six Champions League games so far.
His command of the defence, his long passing range and incredible ability to read the game and snuff out danger way before every other player is second to none in the Chelsea ranks.
Others have argued that Thiago is currently the best center back in the premier and they are not far from the truth. While taking cognizance of other brilliant center backs in the league; Rudiger, Ruben Dïas, Van Dijk and Varane, the Brazilian sure has a say on that list.
This season, the former AC Milan and PSG superstar has played 1,643 minutes for the blues behind only Mendy and fellow center back, Rudiger. Thiago also boasts of the most clearances 66 in the league this season for Chelsea.
This season, the former AC Milan and PSG superstar has played 1,643 minutes for the blues behind only Mendy and fellow center back, Rudiger. Thiago also boasts of the most clearances 66 in the league this season for Chelsea. The Brazilian averages 75.2 passes per match with 91.6 per cent of those passes being successful. His passing range is a major weapon of his as he averages 5.2 long balls per game, often transitioning quickly from defence to attack with the wing-backs mostly the targets of long diagonals right from the heart of the defence.
With a career as successful as Thiago’s (28 club trophies and 2 international trophies), the Brazilian still gets enough motivation to remain as professional as he needs to be to be going at this old age of his in the most demanding of leagues, The English Premier League.
As He (Thiago) has often said, he harbors the dream of representing The Selecão (Brazilian National Team) at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
His influence and experience at the heart of the Chelsea defence is greatly important and he has definitely had an influence on the younger players in the defence department (Reece James, Chalobah and Sarr) which makes him even more important than it seems to the great cause of returning Chelsea to it’s rightful place on top of the world as the Champions of the World.
Thiago, aging like fine wine! 🍷
