All week Chelsea have been stressing the importance of the Club World Cup, how it remains the only major trophy to have eluded them and why letting it slip again could lead to long-time regrets.
For Jorginho, a win over Palmeiras at Mohammed Bin Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi tomorrow night would also cap off a remarkable nine months in which he already has the rare distinction of being a European champion in club and international football.
But there is another motivation for the midfielder as he revealed during this afternoon’s pre-match press conference that before moving to Italy as a teenager he had trials with Palmeiras only to be told he was not good enough.
"Let me tell you something not a lot of people know," he told the world's media. "The connection I have with Palmeiras is that I trialled for the team when I was 12 and did not make the team. That is the only memory I have of Palmeiras.
“That is what football is like. We are here 18 years later to compete at a Club World Cup final against Palmeiras and it is crazy and also why football is so beautiful. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe it was better this way."
Along with Thiago Silva and Kenedy, the 30-year-old has underlined to Chelsea's European contingent why this competition means so much to South Americans.
With about 15,000 Palmeiras fans expected in the Mohammed Bin Zayed stadium tomorrow, the coaching staff have also warned it will feel like an away game rather than a tie on neutral territory.
"Anything I can seek to give me motivation and to help me and try to fight that is what I will do,” Jorginho added.
“We have been trying to talk to our Chelsea colleagues and try to show how important it is, how important this tournament is for Brazilian football. The coach showed us a video of Palmeiras leaving the country to give our players a sense of how important it is in Brazil.”
