Chelsea's performance and technical adviser Petr Cech has wished Blues duo Edouard Mendy and Jorginho well for their World Cup qualifier games for Senegal and Italy respectively.
Numerous Chelsea players are currently with their international teams ahead of the last break of the season with England, Germany and Brazil all facing friendlies to help in their World Cup preparations. Meanwhile, the likes of Mendy, Jorginho and even Christian Pulisic to a certain extent are still battling with their home nations to make the final cut for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
The USMNT are in a strong position to make it to the World Cup, sitting firmly in second place in their group with three winnable fixtures on the horizon over the next week and a bit. Mendy's Senegal - the newly crowned African Cup of Nations champions - face the team that they beat to the crown earlier this year, with Mohamed Salah's Egypt looking to enact revenge in their World Cup knockout tie.
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Meanwhile, Roberto Mancini's Italy side take on underdogs North Macedonia in their World Cup qualifier semi-final tie, before what could be a huge final game against Portugal. Cech says there is pressure on Jorginho and Mendy, but he has his fingers crossed for both players.
"There is a good chance Portugal play Italy next week in the play-off final. It is difficult to imagine either not having a team in the World Cup, so the pressure is all in," he wrote on Chelsea FC. "The players are impacted.
"When you go to the play-offs full of hope but come home on the losing side, it can be hard for a player to recover straight away when they then play for their club. It really makes a difference, so fingers crossed for Jorginho and Italy.
"For Edou and Senegal, it’s a similar story. There are two huge favourites going head-to-head again. Egypt had the disappointment of losing the AFCON final, but they will use that as an engine to try to win this time.
"Both teams know each other really well, so it’s going to be like another final. It’s a tricky situation for both because they keep bumping into each other in these important games. They can’t surprise each other, and you could see in that final they were pretty even."
