A lively Enzo Maresca shot Chelsea’s Club World Cup victory on Benfica as ‘non -football’, ‘not normal’ and ‘a joke’, while questioning the suitability of the United States for organizing a large summer tournament – a year before FIFA brings the 2026 World Cup to America.
Maresca was furious about how the game was suspended for almost two hours in the 86th minute of their game because of the lightning that hit the neighborhood. It let the players over their thumbs in the borders of the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte with scarce updates.
Chelsea had arranged this competition until that interruption. On their return, however, they lost their 1-0 lead on a controversial fine scored by Angel Di Maria after Malo Gusto was supposed to have treated the ball.
The blues won 4-1 in the 30 minutes of extra time, because Benfica Gianluca Prestianni had rejected for a second yellow card.
While Maresca wanted to emphasize that he loves the club World Cup as a competition, his explanation of the number of suspensions that was forced at competitions as a result of storms was a damn look for FIFA and their President Gianni Infantino.
“We had control of the game for 85 minutes,” Maresca told a group of English reporters after their victory in Charlotte. “We have not admitted anything. We have made enough opportunities to win the game. And after the break the game changed completely.
A lively Enzo Maresca shot Chelsea’s victory at the Club of Chelsea on Benfica as ‘Not Football’
Playing was suspended for almost two hours because of the lightning that stood out in the area in Charlotte
‘For me personally it is not football. They are already seven, eight, nine games they have suspended. I think it’s a joke to be honest. It’s not football. It’s not for us. You can’t be inside. If you suspend seven or eight games, it means that it is probably not the right place to do this competition. ‘
Chelsea will play Palmeiras this Friday in the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup in Philadelphia. That will see them confronted with their incoming 18-year-old Wonderkid, Estevao Willian.
Other matches suspended by storms in the United States are Benfica versus Auckland City in Orlando, Ulsan versus Mamelodi Sunday in Orlando, Red Bull Salzburg versus Pachuca in Cincinnati, Boca Juniors versus Auckland City in Nashville and Palmeiras Al A Al A Alus Al A Alus Al A Alus Al A Alus Alus Alus Alus.
Chelsea traveled back to their Miami training basis after this tiring victory in Charlotte and was lucky that another suspension was not enforced in extra time, because FIFA bodies in the Bank of America Stadium were nervous that their weather trackers had spied a new storm in the area.
Continue, Maresca said: ‘The problem is that when the game is suspended, it is not football. Guys, it’s not football. You suspend the game, it’s not football. It is completely different.
‘The game was very good for 85 minutes. Then we had a two -hour stop. Then it started completely differently. It’s not the same game. It is not the same game because you break the pace.
‘Two hours inside, people talk outside with the family outside, if they were good, safety, people eating, people who laugh, people talk on the mobile. It’s two hours.
“That’s why I said it’s not football. It is something that you have trouble understanding. But we tried to go out, to continue in the same way, knowing that it was difficult. It is not random that we have not admitted anything for 85 minutes. And then we admitted a few opportunities for five minutes. Why? It is because it started a completely different game. It’s not normal. It’s not football.
Maresca was furious that his players were left with their thumbs for almost two hours
The Chelsea boss doubted the suitability of the United States for organizing a summer tournament
‘I ask you, if they have already suspended six, seven, eight games in this competition, there is probably something that doesn’t work well. Because it is not normal to suspend a game in a football match.
“Please don’t get me wrong. It is a fantastic competition. It is a club world cup. It’s great. We are happy to be in the last eight. But something happens, six, seven games suspended.
‘It is not normal to suspend a game. How many games have been suspended in a world cup? Zero, probably. How many games in Europe? Zero. We are here for two weeks, they have already suspended six or seven games. There is a problem for me personally.
‘How can you keep them focused in for two hours? It’s a joke. Then we are happy. We are happy to be here. We are happy to be in this competition. But it is something that it is not normal. ‘
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