ORLANDO, Florida — Bernardo Silva has rejected the suggestion that Manchester City’s early exit from the FIFA Club World Cup could be a blessing in disguise and said “no one wanted more vacations.”
City were dumped out in the round of 16 by Al Hilal on Monday after a thrilling game in Orlando.
It means Pep Guardiola and his squad are going home two weeks before the final in New York on July 13.
Had City made it to the end of the tournament, they would have just four weeks to rest and prepare for the start of the Premier League on Aug. 16.
City will now get an extended break, but Silva — who had just five days off between the end of last season and the Club World Cup after playing for Portugal in the Nations League — insists the players don’t want the extra time off.
“No one wanted to lose, no one wanted more vacations,” Silva said.
“We are very used to not having holidays unfortunately because the schedule is crazy.
“But when we are in a competition we take it very seriously and we had a lot of ambition for this Club World Cup and we wanted to win it.”
Asked whether the feeling of going out was similar to exiting the Champions League, the 30-year-old said: “Yeah, a little bit, yeah.”
City are set to return to Manchester from the training base in Boca Raton, Florida on Tuesday.
Silva said the players don’t yet know how much time off they will get, but promised the squad will be ready to begin their Premier League campaign when they face Wolves at Molineux on Aug. 16.
“We don’t know [the schedule] yet,” he said.
“We know when we start the Premier League, we will try to have as much rest as possible but also coming back to prepare for the season properly.
“That’s not my job, that’s the manager and his staff’s job to prepare the players, two or three weeks, whatever. But we are going to prepare the season.”
