Reece James’ embarrassment made headlines after Donald Trump remained on stage as Chelsea celebrated Club World Cup success, but England star plans to repeat at World Cup
Reece James says he will avoid another embarrassing trophy showdown with Donald Trump if he has the chance to play against England next summer. The US president’s banning of Chelsea’s Club World Cup celebrations has been the talk of the internet since last summer.
Chelsea captain James took to the stage as President Trump took part in the presentation before Cole Palmer pulled a face against a carry-back. But James laughed and insisted that if it happened again and England won the World Cup next summer, he would leave it to Harry Kane to sort it out.
England’s defender James smiled and said, “No, I don’t have a plan. I’ll leave it to Harry!”
Trump was a special guest of FIFA at last summer’s Club World Cup final, where Chelsea defeated Paris Saint-Germain to win the trophy at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where the final will be held next summer.
James led Chelsea to glory in July and admitted he dreams of repeating that success with England at next summer’s World Cup.
read more: Inside Sven-Goran Eriksson’s grand mansion, which his family sold at a reduced price to pay off debtsread more: Manager Thomas Tuchel handed over top star Trevor Chalobah, who was called up to the England squad in the second half, while on crutches.
James said: “It’s my dream and every boy and girl’s dream to become world champions for my country. It’s something I’ve dreamed of ever since I started playing and since I was selected for England. I feel like I’m close to that.”
“I don’t think it has much to do with it. Club soccer and national soccer are a little different. It’s a year apart and the teams are completely different, but I’ll do my best.”
James believes leadership, team spirit and healthy competition for places are key factors and has accepted working under former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel as England manager.
He added: “I think I know what I bring to the table. We have a lot of experienced players here and a lot of young players. I think the stronger we are as a group, the easier it will be. The key to achieving what we want and being successful is the cohesiveness of the group. It’s not the leadership of one person.”
“Competition is the key to winning. In competition, you can’t have a small team. You have to keep the players on their toes, with everyone hungry and with fire in their bellies to want to win.”
Trump’s bizarre interruption in the summer cannot detract from Chelsea’s accomplishments, which meant a lot to James personally. “It’s great for me. I’ve been rooting for this team since I was little,” he said at the time.
“I only wanted to play for this club once, and that was enough. It was my dream to captain the team this season and lead them to two trophies.”
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