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Until weaintgotnohistory.com gets off the ground, I've taken it upon myself to provide Chelsea readers with some coverage of their club. Although they might not appreciate this one (unless they are both Blues fans and USMNT supporters).
I first alluded to a Chelsea curse when their players started dropping like little Luis Suárezes, except with actual diagnosable injuries, such as Michael Ballack's ankle and Michael Essien's knee. Now, not even a week into the World Cup, it seems that Chelsea FC may have bestowed a different curse upon their players: the curse of being unable to win a match in the tournament.
For the sake of this exercise, I'm going to consider a "Chelsea Player" anyone signed to the club on June 10, 2010, the day before the World Cup kicked off. This means there were 13 players able to take the pitch in South Africa, representing 6 nations:
Miroslav Stoch, midfielder (now signed with Fenerbahçe)
Branislav Ivanovic, center back
Paulo Ferreira, full back
Ricardo Carvalho, center back
Deco, midfielder
Salomon Kalou, forward
Didier Drogba, forward
Nicholas Anelka, forward
Florent Malouda, midfielder
Ashley Cole, left back
John Terry, center back
Joe Cole, midfielder
Frank Lampard, midfielder
Out of the six nations boasting one or more Chelsea players on their squad, here are their records:
Uruguay 0-0 France
England 1-1 USA
Serbia 0-1 Ghana
New Zealand 1-1 Slovakia
Ivory Coast 0-0 Portugal
France 0-2 Mexico
In six games, the Chelsea-infiltrated squads have managed to earn five points.
However, the clubs with the Chelsea players unable to join their national teams--Ballack for Germany, Essien for Ghana--have managed six points. Both squads have won.
Chelsea curse? You decide.
(In all fairness, the Aston Villa players haven't earned their squads a win, either. But considering there are 4 Villans playing for two nations, it's not quite as effective--especially considering the countries played one another).