‘It's a joke' — Enzo Maresca fumes after Chelsea's two-hour weather delay

Times

4 hours ago

A furious Enzo Maresca appeared to question the suitability of the United States to host the Club World Cup after Chelsea's 4-1 victory over Benfica became the sixth match of the tournament to be interrupted by severe storms.
Chelsea's match was delayed nearly two hours due to a thunderstorm near the Bank of America stadium in Charlotte. The match was suspended in the 86th minute with Chelsea looking comfortable and leading 1-0, however after the break, Benfica managed to take the game to extra-time courtesy of a penalty from Ángel Di María.
Chelsea went on to win 4-1 in extra time, helped by a strong response and a red card for Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni, but Maresca was unhappy with the length of the delay, calling it a 'joke' and insisting that it changed the game and made it difficult to coach.
'After the break, the game changed completely,' Maresca said. 'I think for me personally it's not football. It's already [six] games that they suspended. I think it's a joke to be honest, it's not football. It's not for us. You cannot be inside. It's completely something new, but I struggle to understand. I can understand that for security reasons, you are to suspend the game. But if you suspend [six] games, that means that probably is not the right place to do this competition.'
The thunderstorm meant that FIFA had to implement a 'seek cover' protocol as players left the field and supporters moved inside and onto the concourses.
The protocol meant that the match was delayed by 30 minutes but if a lightning strike was detected to have struck the ground within a ten-mile radius of the stadium, the 30-minute clock was reset. Ultimately the delay lasted for one hour and 56 minutes.
This was the second longest delay of the tournament due to weather, with Benfica participants in the longest delay, a two-hour break during their 6-0 win over Auckland City in Orlando. There have been four other delays at the tournament so far due to storms, including Ulsan vs Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Red Bull Salzburg against Pachuca in Cincinnati, Boca Juniors against Auckland City in Nashville and Palmeiras v Al Ahly in New Jersey. Other matches have taken place in high heat.
The match in Charlotte, though, would become the longest match of the tournament so far, where a 4pm kick off ended at 8.38pm local time.
Asked whether he was referring to the stadium in Charlotte specifically regarding suitability to host the tournament, Maresca said: 'No, no, no. I'm saying that. I ask you, if in this competition, they already suspended six, seven, eight games, probably there is something that is not working well. Because in a football game, it's not normal to suspend a game.'
Pushed on whether the delays are bad for a new competition like the Club World Cup, Maresca said: 'Please, don't misunderstand me. I said it's a fantastic competition. It's a Club World Cup. It's top. We are happy to be in the last eight. We are happy to win all these kind of things. But something happens, [six] games suspended.
'In a World Cup, how many games are suspended? Zero, probably. In Europe, how many games? Zero. We are here, two weeks, they're already suspended [six] games. There is some problem for me personally. But I'm talking as a manager. Because when you are two hours inside and you try to keep them in the game, but for two hours, they are speaking with the family outside for safety reasons. They are eating something, they are playing, they are laughing. How can you keep them two hours inside, focused? It's a joke. That's why I said it. Then we are happy. We are happy to be here. We are happy to be in this competition. But it's something that it's not normal for.'
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Chelsea players kept themselves warm during the break by using exercise bikes in the dressing room.
'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,' Maresca said. '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. It's not normal. It's not football.'
Benfica managed to equalise from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time after Malo Gusto was adjudged to have handled Nicolás Otamendi's header. By the letter of the law it is a penalty, due to his arm's outstretched position, but the French defender could not see the direction of play having leapt to deal with the initial cross and it felt like an extremely harsh decision. VAR sent the referee, Slavko Vincic, to the monitor and he awarded the penalty.
Moises Caicedo said the players were upset about the decision. 'We thought it wasn't a penalty because he didn't look at the ball,' he said. 'He couldn't do anything.'
Chelsea will face Palmeiras in the quarter-final of the Club World Cup next Friday, in Philadelphia.