He wasn’t part of the Brazilian World Cup team that was headed into submission by a Zinedine Zadane-inspired France 16 summers ago but Thiago Silva, who is expected to lead the yellow brigade this year, says he wants to erase the ‘bad memories’ at the Stade de France by winning the upcoming League Cup final for his club PSG.
‘This is a bad memory for Brazilians. But football allows us to write another story, which could be different, since many Brazilians are likely to win the League Cup in this stadium that reminds us of bad memories,’ the 29-year-old Thiago said.
The final of the 1998 World Cup final was played at Stade de France and Zidane’s two headers coupled with an Emmanuel Petit strike late into the match sealed the title for France. Now, it’s time for him to write a new chapter.
‘It’s up to us to write a new story, the story of Paris Saint-Germain,’ the central defender added. The Brazilian is widely considered as the best centre-back in the world at present and he is confident of turning PSG into the world’s best club. The heartbreak, though, remains after the French heavyweight’s exit from Champions League following an away defeat to Chelsea.
‘I mean just one thing: forgiveness for the Champions League. We will continue to fight together to make this team Paris Saint-Germain the best in the world. It should also work hard to finally win CL.
It has also been reported a host of top clubs from around Europe are on toes after Silva admitted that he wants to leave the club this summer. But Thiago says he is motivated to win CL with Paris next year.
‘I work hard at it. The project of the club is to win the Champions League. I’m sure next year will be different again. This has been the case with the latter. Now we must continue to work seriously to tackle the next season,’ he said.