Torres: Chelsea taking Club World Cup seriously

Posted Tuesday, December 11, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has insisted that the FIFA Club World Cup is an important competition, in spite of the fact that it is not given much attention in Europe and that he is hoping to complete the European and World Cup double with Chelsea, a feat he has already achieved while playing nationally for Spain.

After seeing footage of Corinthians fans welcoming their side to Japan, Torres revealed that he feels the tournament is very important and that he plans to take it seriously.

“How many people don't take this tournament seriously, or don't think it is like the real World Cup? It is for the clubs,” Torres told the club's official website. “You ask the South American people. David Luiz showed me a video of Corinthians fans at the airport, it was full of fans cheering the team and traveling to Japan to support, so it is important.

“In Europe maybe we don't give it as much attention, and to some people it might not mean much, but to me it does, so this is not a holiday or a break, this is a World Cup. It's nice to be involved, and maybe to be able to say you are a world champion. The European Super Cup was just as important to us and we lost, so we don't want that disappointment.”

Although important to the 28-year-old, he conceded that winning the tournament in Japan would not make up for the Blues’ disappointment at exiting the Champions League at the group stage.

“It wouldn't make up for the Champions League, they are different things,” Torres continued. “It was a dream to win it last season, and we wanted to do it again this time to be the first team to do two in a row, and it's a big disappointment to go out in the group stage.

“Nothing can make up for it but we must look forward, we are in a different competition now, the Europa League, and we want to win that too, to play in and win another Super Cup.”