Cahill is up against the clock
GARY CAHILL is facing four of the most crucial weeks of his career.
The Chelsea defender has fought his way back into Antonio Conte’s team and was a key figure in the side who beat Southampton 2-0 at Wembley on Sunday to book a place in the FA Cup final against Manchester United on May 19.
But now the 32-yearold, ever present for his country at the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016, has to find a way of regaining his place in Gareth Southgate’s plans for this summer World Cup in Russia.
Cahill, captain of his country on five occasions and vice-captain several times, has only five games left to do it in, including the cup final, before Southgate names his final 23-man squad, which he has said he will do before the June 2 friendly against Nigeria. It is a tight schedule for a man who has won six major trophies in six years at Chelsea but who has been left out of England’s last five games and was not even in the squad for the last two.
“Of course I want to go to the World Cup this summer,” said Cahill. “I have played in virtually all of the qualifying games, so if I was to miss out on the final hurdle, it would be disappointing. The most important thing for me to do is to start enjoying my football again and put in the kind of performances that I have done here over the years. I’m not finished.”
Aside from their cup exploits, Chelsea are still not completely out of the race for the top four, with a wobbling Tottenham only five points ahead of them with four games left.
Chelsea face Swansea at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday.