As Thiago Silva addressed the Chelsea fans in April 2024 to inform them that he would be leaving Stamford Bridge, he broke down in tears while explaining his ‘indescribable love’ for the Blues.

The moment his farewell video was posted on social media was the moment that many a football fan thought his career at the top of the sport was over at the age of 39, and he was heading for retirement. Well, so it seemed.

Here we are, just over a year on, and Silva is preparing to lead Fluminense into battle against his former side as they clash in the Club World Cup semi-final on Tuesday. The now 40-year-old’s flip-flops are nowhere to be seen.

The emotion we saw released with every tackle, every win, every trophy, when he donned the blue of Chelsea for four years is as apparent as ever.

The moment the final whistle blew following his side’s win over Al-Hilal in the quarter-final, the Brazilian centre-back simply dropped to his knees and pointed to the sky before his team-mates swarmed him with love.

40-year-old Thiago Silva has played a major role in Fluminense’s journey to the Club World Cup semi-final

Silva will take on his former side Chelsea on Tuesday, whom he left back in May of last year

Many thought that Silva’s career at the sport was over but his performances at the Club World Cup have disproved that 

They know that without Silva, they wouldn’t be in the semi-finals. This means everything to him; Fluminense is his club, and he wants to guide them to history. No pina coladas at a beach bar, they can wait a few more years.

Everywhere Silva has played, he has been loved, and it’s no different at Fluminense. They don’t just fight for the badge or themselves; they fight for him. The veteran makes them want to run through a brick wall to secure silverware.

It’s easy to see why. A speech by Silva in the dressing room prior to his side’s magical victory over Champions League finalists Inter Milan in the round of 16 has been posted to social media, and the words spoken are enough to inspire even the most apathetic of players.

‘Don’t wait until after the game to say what you could have done, no,’ as he fought back the tears in a passionate address.

‘My stepfather was the person who made me become Thiago Silva. He was sick, and I didn’t know how serious the illness was.

‘I went back to the national team and the World Cup ended the way it ended. He was hospitalised and I went back to Paris. I started the pre-season and in one of my first matches my wife called me and said “Your father passed away.”

‘What am I trying to say with this? I didn’t go to see him at the hospital because I thought he was going to be fine. Don’t leave for later what you can do now, because there might not be time.

‘Seize the moment, enjoy it, but enjoy it with responsibility. Having said that, we need to finish the match with 11 players. Don’t take this to an unfair place. Be fair but compete. Compete, dammit. We all need to compete, together.’

The 40-year-old seems as determined as ever for success and he showcased his passion and emotion after leading Fluminense to an historic win over Inter Milan

Silva’s incredible leadership qualities is a well-loved figure within the Fluminense squad

Of course, we all know what happened next. The Brazilians shocked the world by netting twice without reply to dump out one of the tournament favourites. The speech had worked.

It’s not just off the pitch Silva inspires either. Fluminense manager Gaucho has described him as the team’s ‘coach on the pitch’.

He was not always the leader that we see bellowing instructions on the pitch these days. In fact, during his early years, he would be the introverted ‘kid in the corner’.

It’s hard to imagine, but it’s true, and Silva’s leadership only became a trait when he started putting on football boots. From then on, he never looked back.

‘I’m a shy person and I struggle to make friends,’ said Silva in FIFA’s ‘Captain’s’ documentary back in 2022. ‘My childhood friends called me mouse because I would hardly leave the house.

‘Over time, football became more important in my life and because of football I managed to put my shyness to one side.

‘That’s how I became Thiago Silva. That’s when I started thinking “maybe I can go a little further”. I dreamed of playing in full stadiums and as your passion for something grows you go in search of your dreams.’

A ‘mouse’ he is no more. Thiago’s wife, Isabelle da Silva, has since revealed that friends these days see him in a very different light compared to those with whom he grew up.

Thiago Silva’s wife Isabelle has been at every single one of his games at the tournament

Belle has always been in the stands to celebrate the highs and lows of Thiago’s football career, including when he won the old version of the Club World Cup with the Blues in 2021

She said: ‘People see him as the captain wherever he goes, even his friends call him because they see the leadership in him. Thiago has the personality of a leader, and on the pitch he’s a monster.’

Belle is her husband’s biggest fan; she doesn’t miss a single kick. The 38-year-old has been in the stands for every single one of his games at the Club World Cup, and it is doubtful that she sat there with her lips sealed shut.

Thiago’s vocal confidence may have developed once he met Isabelle back in 2004, just two years into his professional career. It’s fair to say she has never been one to stay quiet.

Just last year, she made her feelings clear about the then-Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino, implying that he should be sacked in a social media post while Silva was still captain of the club.

In February 2024, after Chelsea lost 4-2 to Wolves at Stamford Bridge, she wrote: ‘It’s time for change. If you wait any longer it will be too late.’

That is just one of many tirades that Silva’s biggest fan, and the mother of his two children, has been on. However, ever since the family’s move back to Brazil, she has seemingly stopped tapping her thumbs on Twitter (now know as X) quite so much. 

Instead, she sticks to Instagram. Expect plenty of content on there on Tuesday night, especially if Fluminense’s fairytale run continues.

For Silva, though, another mammoth match awaits. Fluminense are just one step away from the Club World Cup final, and two away from immortality.

Silva’s wife uses her social media platform as other influencers do – sharing snaps from glamorous and luxurious holidays – but has some headstrong opinions about football as well

 Speaking last year, she seemed to suggest that Mauricio Pochettino should be sacked 

Silva’s former team-mate Marc Cucurella said that the former Brazil captain texted him before Fluminense even qualified for the last four 

The reunion with Chelsea is clearly something that has been on his mind for some time, longer than maybe many would suspect.

‘He is a legend of football and showed that by playing for a lot of big clubs,’ said Marc Cucurella, his former team-mate at Chelsea.

‘He texted me before the game and said: “Let’s go, hopefully we can see you in a few days’ time.” So after the game I texted him and said: “Let’s go!”‘

It says everything about the Brazilian that he was willing to text a former colleague like that before even knowing if they would come up against each other.

Should Fluminense shock the world again, the Champions League winners could very much be their opponents in the final. But first, they just have the simple task of getting past record five-time winners of the competition, Real Madrid.