The Brazilian Thiago Silva, defender of the Brazilian club Fluminense, expressed his immense happiness after his team qualified for the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup, currently taking place in the United States, following their victory over Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia with a score of two to one on Friday evening in the quarterfinals.

Silva said: "I feel a great sense of happiness and pride for my team, playing in the Club World Cup and reaching the semifinals is not an easy feat."

He added: "Reaching this moment was hard for me to imagine, but I am very happy for the team and for myself, we have been united all the time, and playing against a team like Al Hilal is not easy at all."

Regarding the secret of his continued play despite reaching the age of forty, the Fluminense captain explained: "Playing all the matches is not easy, the idea of recovery for me is not as quick as it used to be, but I am here and I feel happy to help the team, the performance today was good, and we need to recover well in preparation for the next match."

About the possibility of facing his former team Chelsea in the semifinals, Silva said: "Maybe we will play against Chelsea, I am definitely a supporter of them, but Palmeiras is also a big team."