http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=285709&cc=5901
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri gave his players no time to celebrate
their Champions League success over Besiktas - instead ordering to them back
onto the field for post-match training.
The Blues' 2-0 victory at the AufSchalke Arena ensured their progress to
the knockout stages as group winners, but defender John Terry revealed that he
and his teammates were immediately out of the dressing room for a 20-minute
session ahead of their Premiership clash with Bolton on Saturday.
Terry explained: 'Straight after the game the lads were all happy and the
manager came in and was focusing straight on Bolton.
'He was telling us they are a good side and there is no point us coming
here and winning 2-0 and then going back to Stamford Bridge and losing - we
have got to bounce back.
'We knew we were going to go back out after the game and train. We were
given today off so that we could go home and catch up on a few hours sleep
and it was worth doing because we just needed to shake out our legs and get it
out of our system.
'Straight after the game he was talking about the Bolton game - that sums
Claudio up.'
Striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who scored his first ever Champions
League goal in the impressive victory, added: 'That's the boss. He forgets
about the game once it is over and just wants to look forward. He knew we
played well but he doesn't want us to be dreamers.
'Straight away in nice English he said we had to forget about Besiktas
and think about Bolton on Saturday because the Premiership is a very important
competition as well.'
Chelsea ran a gauntlet of hate from more than 51,000 Turks in their final
Group game, which was switched from Istanbul by UEFA following recent terrorist
attacks in the city, but they came through with goals from Hasselbaink and
substitute Wayne Bridge's first for the club - sending them into Friday's draw
for the last 16 as one of the seeded clubs.
Terry, who compared the experience to playing for Sven-Goran Eriksson's
England in Turkey in their final Euro 2004 qualifier in October, is optimistic
that the lessons he is learning from such occasions will help further his
international career.
'It is great for my confidence and it is great in terms of experience,'
Terry said. 'It doesn't come much bigger than this, and that is what this
season is about for me, to prove myself in the big competitions, playing
Champions League football and internationally.
'Mr Eriksson has been saying for a long time that he likes his players to
play Champions League football so he can get a good chance to see them against
the best strikers and in the last few games I have felt I have done well, and
it can only benefit me.
'We have got to keep going. We have shown what we are capable of in this
competition and we have as good a chance as anybody - we are in the hat as
seeds and hoping for a good draw.'
Hasselbaink agreed that it was important to have won the group and added:
'The most important thing about the result is that we finished top of the
group and we are now looking forward to the draw.
'We can grow from that and take confidence, but not too much. Now it
starts to get difficult but it is a great challenge.'
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