“ No football ” – Chelsea boss, Maresca, slams the last delay of the world cup weather after the victory at the end of 16
Chelsea manager, Enzo Maresca, described almost two hours on his confrontation of the club World Cup last with Benfica as “no football”.
The blues appeared on the right track for a routine victory 1-0 after Reece James gave them the advance in the 64th minute.
But the players were called from the field and the match suspended after the thunderstorms was detected within a radius of eight miles from the Bank of America stadium in Charlotte.
The delay lasted an hour and 53 minutes and, with the momentum of Chelsea interrupted, Benfica equalized by the penalty of the 95th minute of Angel Di Maria.
Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall each found the net in more time to ensure a 4-1 victory for Chelsea.
But Maresca did not try to hide his frustration when stopped, the last in a series of delays during the competition due to the weather. The United States, alongside Canada and Mexico, should accommodate the 48-team World Cup in 2026, and Maresca clearly has doubts that he should host such events.
“For 85 minutes, we checked the match,” said Maresca.
“We have not conceded anything; We have created a chance enough to win the match. And then after the break, the game has completely changed.
“For me personally, it’s not football. You cannot be inside for two hours. This is something completely new.
“I can understand that for security reasons, you have to suspend the game. But if you suspend six, seven games, it means that it is probably not the right place to do this competition.
“It’s a fantastic competition. The Club World Cup is in the lead; We are happy to be in the last eight.
“It is not normal to suspend a match. In a World Cup, how many matches are suspended? Probably zero. In Europe, how many matches? Zero.
“So two hours inside – people speak with the family outside [to check] If they were good with safety. People eat, laughing, talk about their mobiles. It was two hours. This is why I said it was not football. “”
Chelsea will face Palmeiras in the quarterfinals of Philadelphia next Saturday.
