Thiago Silva, Christian Pulisic called up for international duty

Unlike most of the rest of the Chelsea squad, Thiago Silva and Christian Pulisic will not get to have a week off following last night’s heartening 2-0 win over Spurs, and will instead travel across land and sea to join up with their respective national teams for some World Cup qualifying action.

Thanks, FIFA!

Silva’s Brazil may have already qualified for the 2022 World Cup, but the national team captain will obviously want to be involved at every step, especially as he’s made playing in the summer winter showpiece one of his last remaining big career goals — and at 102 caps, he has Lúcio’s total of 105 well in sight for fifth all-time on the Brazil list. Brazil have games against Ecuador and Paraguay.

Pulisic’s USA are in a far more precarious position as they fight for one of the three automatic qualifier spots in the “Octagonal” — the top four are currently separated by just two points, with Canada surprisingly leading the way. The US will play them, as well as El Salvador and Honduras, the bottom two teams in the group. Those are surely must-wins for the USMNT and Captain America.

Best of luck to both of them. No injuries please! (And do try to get some rest, too, Thiago...)