Barclays Premier League affiliate Chelsea may be in the hunt for the 2013-2014 English League championship with only two matches remaining but due to a lingering hip injury, the Blues may not have the services of a key midfielder down the final stretch of the current campaign. 22-year-old Brazil native Oscar has missed Chelsea’s previous three matches while dealing with a hip injury and even though the talented star was on the bench for the club’s two-legged UEFA Champions League semifinal series against Atletico Madrid, his physical ailments kept him from making an appearance in either contest.
Though he’d like to be able to help his side move up the BPL table – since coach Jose Mourinho and company find themselves two points back of Liverpool with 2 matches to go – the former Internacional star is wary of putting his World Cup hopes in danger by further damaging his hip. While he’s expected to miss this weekend’s contest against Norwich, Oscar is open to the possibility of featuring in Chelsea’s season finale against Cardiff on May 11. Due to the fact that the World Cup begins on June 12 however, the Brazilian national talent could elect to heal up.
“I’m not playing because I felt a pain due to an injury to the abductor,” he said. “In the last game against Liverpool I was not called on. Yes, I warmed up against Atletico, but Mourinho knew that I could hardly play. Maybe I will not play the next game because I could get a more serious abductor injury and he knows it. We're treating me to try to play the final match of the Premier League, but I have to take care for the World Cup. We still have two very important games in the Premier League because Chelsea can be champions, but it is important to rest because the World Cup is here.”
In 32 Premier League appearances this season, Oscar has recorded 8 goals and 2 assists to help keep the Blues in contention heading into the final two weeks of another highly contested schedule.
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