Chelsea’s Gary Cahill ‘normal’ in every way – ‘apart from my trophy cabinet’

Gary Cahill says he knows Chelsea's Premier League title 'will be even hard to retain' next season, but that 'we have started to build something here'.

Chelsea's Gary Cahill chats to media on Thursday ahead of England's Euro 2016 qualifying match against Slovenia. Charlie Crowhurst / Getty Images / June 11, 2015

Chelsea and England defender Gary Cahill may have won every domestic and European trophy around, but he has no desire to adopt the rock star lifestyle that often comes with success.

In possibly the most unlikely combination in the history of music, Cahill, Maya Yoshida, Hulk and Samuel Eto’o formed a band last summer that rocked the Copacabana from dawn ‘til dusk.

A video of the England defender and his band-mates belting out some highly-charged rock tunes was played again and again on the front of a five-star hotel on Brazil’s most famous beach.

Thankfully for music lovers, this unnamed band were not, in fact, real and only played their songs for commercial purposes.

The quartet were merely put together for an advert that played on loop in front of a hotel.

“It was good fun, light-hearted and not a problem, but I can’t play the guitar or any instrument whatsoever,” Cahill said.

Cahill insists he enjoyed shooting the commercial, although in reality he looked a tad awkward. But then again, that is Gary Cahill.

He is “normal” and that is the way he likes it.

Some may be taken aback to know that he is the only member of the current England squad to have won all three domestic trophies and both major European honours.

Many footballers let success go to their heads, but Cahill is not one of them.

When it was put to him at a media briefing ahead of Sunday’s game in Slovenia, that he was a “grounded” person, he took it as a big compliment.

“It is nice if people say you are grounded because I think it is important to be that way,” the centre-back said.

“Everyone is different. That is just me. My personality is that. I play football.

“I feel I am in a privileged position, but I work hard to be where I am. Away from football, I lead a normal life.”

In total, Cahill brings the word “normal” up five times during his 15-minute media briefing.

There is one thing that he accepts is out of the ordinary, though.

"My family around me are just normal, everything in my life is normal, apart from my trophy cabinet, which is great," said the defender, who added the Premier League and League Cup to his medal collection last term.

Cahill’s low-profile has enabled him to escape the media glare and concentrate on the one thing he loves the most – winning matches for Chelsea and England.

No one has more faith in him than England coach Roy Hodgson, who has picked the centre-back for every Euro 2016 qualifier so far.

Hodgson is so impressed by the 29-year-old’s leadership skills that he selected him as vice-captain ahead of Joe Hart, who, it was assumed, would become Wayne Rooney’s deputy after Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard retired.

Jose Mourinho has found faith in the defender again, too.

The Chelsea manager dropped Cahill for Kurt Zouma in January, but the former Bolton defender responded in a typically-workmanlike fashion.

He said: “Criticism puts fire in your belly. I got a lot of criticism halfway through the season and it’s satisfying to get to the end of the season and you’ve won a couple of things.

“You always want to strive to be the best and if people doubt you you want to prove them wrong.

“I’m sure it will happen again at some stage in my career, so I just keep working hard.”

Hard-work will be required to keep England on an upward trajectory towards Euro 2016.

“We have started to build something here but without getting too ahead of ourselves we have done really well, but next season will be a great season,” he said.

And he accepts the challenge Manchester City pose to Chelsea next year will be anything but normal.

“We have even spoken among ourselves that we know it will be even harder to retain it,” he said.

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