Writes: Edward Perry
“It’s a one day competition, there is always the chance of fighting for silverware,” the words of Chelsea defender Helder Silva ahead of this weekend’s IKO EAFA League Cup.
It is Everton, Portsmouth and Chelsea’s first opportunity to get their hands on a trophy in the 2024 season.
Helder is no stranger to winning trophies and his signing will be important to a young but hungry Chelsea squad.
He is a part of a spine of England players in the Chelsea team alongside Kieran Lambourne, Harry Ash and Sofyan Filali. It is this platform The Londoners are currently building on to aid the new players coming through.
“We have a very young squad, with a few teammates just starting in Amputee Football, while the other teams have five or six international athletes in their starting seven,” The defender told the official EAFA website.
“That makes things more challenging, but then again, that's where the growth is. We hope the team improves and is able to fight for titles in the future.”
Even though it’s still early days in his Chelsea career, Silva has found it easy to adapt to his new team, “I knew the majority of the players already and played with most of them, so it was easy to reconnect.
“It always helps to have friends within the team, it makes the game more enjoyable. Because you know each other, you already know how they play.”
Helder Silva was introduced to Amputee Football after moving to London in 2015. Progressing quickly, he was called up for England in 2016 and was part of last year’s Nations League winning squad.
When talking about this weekend’s cup action, Helder noted the Chelsea squad are excited, he said: “It's a one day competition, there is always the chance of fighting for silverware.”
“I will try my best to help the team and motivate the younger players to fight for success. Whether that’s winning silverware or learning from experience.”
Progress and improvement is clearly a focus of Chelsea’s and Helder is a shining example to his fellow players. Like all of EAFA’s Men’s national team, Helder has a training programme to follow away from camps and while he grafts through that, he admits there’s no better than actually playing the game.
“Don't get me wrong, you need to play football with other amputees to test yourself and the team around you.”
Silva continued: “We play two games once a month, so what you do outside of those games, I believe, matters more.”
The IKO EAFA League Cup will be streamed live around the world on EAFA’s YouTube and Facebook, but for Helder, he can’t wait to showcase his skills to the fans, he said: “If anything, we can spread the word about the game and excel our skills. If you get to score a really nice goal, it will be on video forever!”
Watch the action live on EAFA’s YouTube and Facebook as Chelsea kick-off against Everton at 12.30pm on Saturday (23rd March).
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