Marc Cucurella has described Thiago Silva as a "legend" of football ahead of Chelsea's Club World Cup semi-final against Fluminense.

Silva, who left Chelsealast summer, is still producing impressive performances at the age of 40 for the Brazilian club and has been a rock at the heart of their defence. The Blues will meet Silva'scurrent club on Tuesday in New York and Cucurella is looking forward to doing battle with his former team-mate.

Fellow defender Cucurellasaid: "We've watched some of their games. They have very good players, they are very determined and they have Thiago Silva.

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"He's a legend of football, a top player. He's only played for big clubs and texted me before the [quarter-final] game saying, 'Let's go, hopefully we can see you in a couple of days'. I texted him saying, 'Let's go!'

"We have the opportunity to play against him again and hopefully we can do good things and win this game and play in the final which is what we want to do."

Silva is one of the great Brazilian defenders of his era and enjoyed an accomplished four-year spell with Chelsea in what was thought to be the twilight of his career after being released by Paris St Germain in 2020. His successes included Champions League glory in 2021 – a victory which earned Chelsea their place in the Club World Cup – and he remains a popular figure at Stamford Bridge.

After returning to Brazil, he helped Fluminense avoid relegation last season and their unexpected run to the last four of this competition raised eyebrows. Silva has started four of their five games and they have conceded just three times.

Cucurella said: "They have a very high level. They have shown in this tournament why they are going right until the final [stages].

"We've played against two Brazilian teams so far and now we will face a third. They fight until the end. We're happy to be in the next round and to have this experience of playing against the South American teams, which isn't very common. Overall, we're enjoying this tournament."

Chelsea booked their trip to New York with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Palmeiras in Philadelphia on Friday. They previously faced Brazilian opposition in the group stage when they were beaten by Flamengo.

The Blues are reaching the end of a draining season which began last August and in which they won the Europa Conference League and qualified for the Champions League. Cucurella said: "At this point, I think it is a good moment. We are in a good position. If we win one more game we can play a final. For all of us, it is very important.

"At this moment, we do not think about the fatigue. If we are tired, we want to enjoy this moment. It is a good opportunity to make something important, to be proud of our work and to play for Chelsea."