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Paris Saint-Germain coach Laurent Blanc said yesterday that he was confident that the club’s Brazilian players will add to the team’s success in the upcoming season despite their nation’s disastrous World Cup. |
Brazil’s national team was knocked out in a humiliating 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany, the worst in the five-time champion’s history
The Paris club’s Brazilian players, including Thiago Silva and David Luiz, newly signed from Chelsea, will not have any “hard feelings”, Blanc told reporters at a Hong Kong press conference as the team kicked off their Asian tour.
“They are some of the best players on the team, so they will do their jobs and continue to do their work and they come back to the club... so there’s no hard feelings about whatever,” Blanc said of Silva, Brazil’s captain, and Luiz.
The club has five Brazilian players, including fellow World Cup squad member Maxwell.
Luiz in May said he was happy to start a new phase of his career at PSG, who are reportedly paying £50 million ($84 million, 61 million euros) for him, a world-record fee for a defender.
Blanc, former player and former manager of the French national team, also said France will have to work for the European Championships, which will be hosted in France in 2016.
“France has a very strong potential in new players and young players, so they will work very hard towards this goal and to be at the very high level such as with the Netherlands, such as the Germans, this will not be easy,” he said.
The Ligue 1 champions, captained by 32-year-old Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic who also travelled to the southern Chinese city, will be playing local outfit Kitchee in a friendly on July 29
“I know everybody has a dream to win the Champions league and I am one of them so we will try, work hard for it, which is not easy,” the striker said at the press conference.
Hong Kong is the first stop in the club’s first Asia tour followed by a visit to the Chinese capital of Beijing where they will participate in the Trophee des Champions against fellow French club Guingamp on
August 2.
PSG wrapped up their second straight Ligue 1 title in May and also won the French League Cup this season with a 2-1 victory over Lyon.