Corinthians wary of complacency

Corinthians right back Alessandro says his team must not think about Chelsea ahead of their Club World Cup semi-final with Al Ahly.

With all but one of the past seven Club World Cup finals involving both the European and South American teams, Brazil’s Corinthians are widely expected to meet Chelsea in Sunday’s final.

But with Wednesday’s semi-final looming against African champions Al Ahly, Alessandro has warned his teammates to keep focused.

“We don’t have any leeway to think about Chelsea,” Alessandro said.

“Chelsea is something which is coming up next, one step after that.

“We are going to have a tough game tomorrow so we have to put ourselves onto tomorrow’s match, we cannot think about Chelsea.”

Chelsea meet CONCACAF champions Monterrey, of Mexico, in the other semi and are widely expected to win.

Corinthians coach Tite revealed his side have been working for a long time to be involved in Japan at the Club World Cup.

Now that they are there, Tite does not want to let the opportunity slip by without making the most of it.

“We have made a massive effort to qualify for the Club World Cup, so we are thinking of playing in the final as being a possibility,” Tite said.

“Of course we want to play against the opponent with respect but we also have the right to dream.

“So if we perform our duties well then the dream can come true and if it does come true then we are excited.

“Sometimes you get the shivers or you get butterflies in your stomach but each player has to do their best to control their nerves.”