Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain admits the possibility of playing at his first World Cup this summer is a major motivation for him.
The England international returned to full training at London Colney this week after a lengthy spell on the sidelines with a knee injury.
While his priority is finding his best form for Arsenal over the coming months, he hopes to impress enough to be selected for Brazil 2014.
"If I was able to be selected and go to Brazil it would be a dream come true and something that I'm definitely striving towards"
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
“As a young guy growing up watching football and watching World Cups, this will be my first one [that I can play in],” Oxlade-Chamberlain told Arsenal Player.
“Obviously I went to the Euros, which was an amazing experience - and that's a massive achievement for me personally, especially as an 18-year-old boy. That was really special.
“But the World Cup is always that little bit more special because it's the world stage. If I was able to be selected and go to Brazil it would be a dream come true and something that I'm definitely striving towards.
“Although for now I'm just focused on getting back in and around the Arsenal team and helping us do well this season. But as you mentioned, [going to] the World Cup is definitely something I would like to achieve.”
Oxlade-Chamberlain scored in England’s 2-2 draw against Brazil at the Maracana in June, and he admits it was an experience he will never forget.
“It was a bit surreal,” he said. “It didn't really sink in until after the game, maybe not even then because I had just come off the bench and on to the pitch so I didn't really feel like I was getting to grips with the game as such.
“When you come off the bench sometimes it takes five to 10 minutes for you to really get settled into the game. I don't know how long it was after I came on that I scored but it felt quite soon. So I was still getting to grips with coming on and doing my job and then all of a sudden the goal went in and I was running off.
“I was celebrating and then I didn't realise why I was celebrating! It was a surreal experience but it was definitely one I will never forget, being in that stadium and playing against a team like Brazil with the World Cup coming up. It was a really nice moment.
“It definitely inspires me to want to make sure I can go back there for some more of that Brazilian action!”
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
