Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca was furious at the organisers of the FIFA Club World Cup after his team had to face a nearly two-hour interruption during the Round of 16 match against Benfica in Charlotte. The game was interrupted by a one-hour and 53-minute suspension due to lightning in the North Carolina region.
Maresca slammed the handling of delays in the United States, arguing it was “not football” and doubting whether the country is fit to host such major tournaments ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup. “For 85 minutes, we were in control of the game. After the break, the game changed completely. For me it’s not football. It’s already seven, eight, nine games that they suspended. I think it’s a joke to be honest, it’s not football.,” said Chelsea manager while speaking to the media post-match.
“It’s not for us. You cannot be inside. I struggle to understand. I can understand that for security reasons, you suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that means that probably [this] is not the right place to do this competition,” he added.
With five minutes remaining and Chelsea leading 1-0, play was stopped and both teams were instructed into the dressing rooms.
“The problem is that when the game is suspended, it’s not football. Guys, it’s not football. You suspend the game, it’s not football. It’s completely something different,” Maresca went on for a rant.
When the game resumed, Benfica won a controversial penalty to tie the game, forcing extra time. Chelsea ultimately won thanks to goals from Christopher Nkunku, Pedri Neto, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, but the match lasted nearly five hours.
“They (Benfica) scored because they need to chase. We are inside, we are winning. You go outside, mentally different. It’s difficult. We had an hour and a half, two-hour stop,” he added.
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“Then it started completely different. It’s not the same game because you break the tempo. So two hours inside; people speak with the family outside, if they were good, the security. People eating, people laughing, people talking on the mobile. It’s two hours. That’s why I said it’s not football. It’s something that you struggle to understand. But we tried to go out, continue in the same way, knowing that it was difficult. It’s not random that for 85 minutes, we didn’t concede nothing. And then for five minutes, we conceded a few chances. Why? It’s because it started a completely different game.”
