If things had worked out just a little differently, Thiago Silva would have played against Chelsea in the final of the 2008 Club World Cup.

Football is a cruel mistress, though. Barely six weeks after our heartbreaking penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester United in Moscow, a Fluminense team containing a young Thiago Silva suffered the same fate in the Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League.

The Libertadores final used to be a two-legged affair, and in 2008, three-and-a-half hours of football could not separate Fluminense, the Rio giants, and LDU Quito. Flu had fallen 4-2 in the Ecuadorian altitude before roaring back at the Maracana, despite conceding an early goal. A hat-trick from Thiago Neves took the showpiece to extra-time, and when no further goals were scored in front of nearly 90,000 frenzied supporters, penalties would have to separate the sides after an epic final finished 5-5 on aggregate.

Bar a tiny pocket of travelling fans, the Maracana was then silenced as Quito won the shoot-out 3-1. Thiago Silva’s Club World Cup story would not be written yet.

‘I have had big disappointments in my career and that was definitely one of them,’ recalls Thiago on the eve of our meeting with Palmeiras here in Abu Dhabi.

‘It was a dream of all the club’s supporters to win that title. It was the same story for me at Paris, that was a big disappointment losing to Bayern. But that’s football. You have to keep working to find it, and after I arrived in London, in my first year I brought the Champions League home. It was very important for me.

‘I always have a dream I want to achieve. I realised the dream of winning the Champions League. Now I have the dream of winning the Club World Cup, and after the dream of winning the World Cup in Qatar.

‘It’s my first time playing in the Club World Cup,’ continues Thiago.

‘Not only in Brazil but in all South America, it’s a very exciting and important competition. For the people in Europe it’s not the most important cup, but for me, like the good Brazilian I am, it’s magnificent to play in this competition.’

Thiago explains he has changed a lot in the 14 years that have passed since that Libertadores defeat, and it is seminal moments such as those that have helped shame him into the player and person he is today. His professional career now spans two decades, and the experience he has garnered in that time ensures he continues to belie his age. At 37, Thiago looks as good as ever in the heart of Chelsea and Brazil’s defence.

Trying to stop Thiago realising his latest dream are Palmeiras, the Parakeets of Sao Paulo.

‘They’re a very good club in Brazil,’ he tells us.

‘In the past they have been very strong, playing a lot in the Libertadores and winning it once before. Now they are one of the biggest clubs in Brazil, and have won the Libertadores two years in a row giving them the possibility to come here and play this competition.

‘They are a very well-structured club. I have seen that when the national team have trained at the Palmeiras training centre. They deserve to be here, and we have to respect their history because it’s a big club with good supporters.

‘It’s big for them, but it’s big for us too. We have never won it. That makes it extra important. At the end, it’s football. One of the two will go home sad, the other will go home happy.’

He reveals he has spoken to Kenedy, who came on for Flamengo in the Libertadores final in November, about Palmeiras’s strengths, joking the player who rejoined the Chelsea squad in January must be the first to lose a Libertadores final and still have the chance to play in the Club World Cup. ‘It’s great Kenedy has that possibility,’ says our number six with a smile.

There is work to be done if we are to write more Chelsea history, and Thiago knows it. As he lays out what is required from the Blues today, he believes the team are in good shape ahead of the final.

‘First of all, we have recovered well from the semi-final,’ emphasises Thiago.

‘It was a very difficult match to play. We have only had three days before the final, so you don’t have much time to work tactically and plan differently for the team we face, Palmeiras. They have had an extra day to prepare but it’s not an excuse. We have prepared well, and I hope when it’s over we will return to London with this cup.

‘It’s been good to spend time all together this week and we have the chance to win an excellent trophy, above all because Chelsea hasn’t done so yet. It’s very important for me, for the club, for the group and for the staff, and we have prepared in the best manner possible to bring the trophy back to London.’

When Man United edged past Quito 1-0 in Yokohama, Thiago Silva watched on wondering what might have been. So did Chelsea as Corinthians lifted the trophy in 2012. Today, those demons can be laid to rest.