‘It's a joke': Chelsea manager Maresca slams weather chaos
CHARLOTTE: Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca lashed out at the two-hour weather delay that disrupted his team's Club World Cup victory over Benfica on Saturday, suggesting the tournament should be played elsewhere in future. Chelsea powered into the quarter-finals after defeating Benfica 4-1 in extra-time after a game that took 4hrs 39mins to complete following a two-hour stoppage due to a storm warning.
It was the sixth time that a game has been halted at the tournament due to widely used rules in the United States that require outdoor sporting events to be halted if there is a chance of lightning. Maresca said afterwards the number of games that had been disrupted should prompt a rethink.
'For me personally, it's not football,' the Chelsea boss said. 'It's already (six) games they suspended here. I think it's a joke. It's not football. 'It's completely amazing, it's completely something new that I struggle to understand. 'I can understand that for security reasons, you have to suspend the game. But if you suspend seven or eight games, that means that probably this is not the right place to do this competition.'
Chelsea had been poised to wrap up victory after Reece James's second-half free-kick left them 1-0 up with four minutes left to play. But the storm warning forced the players off the field. 'It was one of the best performances of the last few weeks,' Maresca said. 'The game was very good for 85 minutes, then we stopped for two hours, and when we started it was a completely different game. It's not the same game because you break the tempo.'
CHARLOTTE: A rainbow is seen in the sky while a giant screen informs of a weather delay during the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 round of 16 football match between Portugal's Benfica and England's Chelsea. — AFP photos
Extra-time goals
When play resumed just under two hours later, a revitalized Benfica grabbed an injury-time equalizer after Chelsea substitute Malo Gusto was adjudged to have handled in the penalty area following an intervention by the Video Assistant Referee. Benfica's Argentine veteran Angel Di Maria stepped up to roll in an ice-cold penalty, sending the game into extra time. An end-to-end first half of extra time saw Benfica, reduced to 10 men following Gianluca Prestianni's second yellow card at the end of regulation, threaten to take the lead as they chased an improbable victory.
But instead it was Nkunku who fired Chelsea back in front, the French international bundling in from close range after Moises Caicedo's low shot squirted underneath Benfica goalkeeper Antoliy Trubin. As the game opened up, Benfica were increasingly vulnerable on the counter-attack and Chelsea pounced. Neto made it 3-1 with a nerveless finish after going clean through on goal in the 114th minute, and three minutes later Dewsbury-Hall completed the rout to send Chelsea through to the last eight.
Despite criticizing the tournament, Maresca emphasized that he remained a fan of the Club World Cup, which was expanded to 32 teams for the first time this year, and is being held in the United States as an informal dress rehearsal for the 2026 World Cup in North America. 'It's a fantastic competition. It's the Club World Cup, all the best clubs are here,' he said. 'But six, seven games suspended? It's not normal. In a World Cup how many have they suspended? Probably zero. In a European (Championship), how many games? Zero. There is some problem.' Chelsea will now return to Philadelphia, where they played two games in the group stage, to play Palmeiras in the quarter-finals on Friday. — AFP
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