Chelsea's £97m Club World Cup bid off to slow start as FIFA suffer humiliation
CHELSEA 2-0 LAFC: Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez scored as the Blues started their Club World Cup campaign with a win, but the game was played in front of a sparse crowd in Atlanta
It was not the spectacular showpiece FIFA had been hoping for. Just 22,137 fans turned up and probably wished they had not bothered because Chelsea hardly set the world alight.
Pedro Neto got the ball rolling with a first half opener before Chelsea substitute Liam Delap marked his debut with an assist to set up Enzo Fernandez to seal the win.
But this was far from the all-singing, all-dancing spectacular we had been promised and instead we got what felt like a pre-season friendly with tired players in front of a stadium not even a third full. Well, what do you expect if you put a game on at 3pm in the middle of a normal Monday afternoon? Funnily enough, most people are at work.
It just looks bad because the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta is one of America's truly great stadiums as it holds 71,000 fans and cost over £1billion to build. But the most memorable thing about this remarkable venue and game was the huge swathes of empty red seats which only highlighted the issue of attendances at FIFA's new-look 32 team tournament.
In fairness, there were 60,927 for the opening game between Inter Miami and Egyptian champions Al Ahly in Miami and 80,000 for Paris Saint Germain's thumping 4-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the Rose Bowl on Sunday.
But you cannot sustain those figures throughout some pretty underwhelming fixtures in this tournament and it feels like what is being seen as a dress rehearsal for next summer could backfire.
If this does not go well or fails to grip the crowds, then what message does that send just 12 months before the World Cup is jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Teams have come to win and to play because there is £97m in prize money on offer to the winners and that would be a game-changer for Chelsea. FIFA have inserted into the rules that teams must field their strongest line-ups and Chelsea's line-up looked very familiar with no let-up for their big names.
Cole Palmer looked lively, Nicolas Jackson got the nod over Delap who had to be patient and was a second half substitute. Jackson had a good first half and maybe competition can get the best out of both of them. There was also a familiar look about Los Angeles FC as former Tottenham captain Hugo Lloris made a smart save to deny Noni Madueke as it was one-way traffic in Atlanta.
The pressure paid off in the 34th minute when Jackson's brilliant pass inside the full back released Neto, the Chelsea winger then turned Los Angeles defender Ryan Hollingshead and drilled a low shot inside Lloris's near post.
It was a super finish after a tight offside call but FIFA have got VAR spot on because there was no long delay or waiting around. Just a quick semi-automated offside decision followed by a graphic to tell the crowd it was onside.
They did similar when Los Angeles' Nathan Ordaz went off with suspected concussion. The Premier League and English football could learn a lot from FIFA tournaments when it comes to referees, VAR and the speed of decisions. But the start of the second half was delayed while substitute Olivier Giroud scrambled to find his shirt so he could come on.
Chelsea brought on Delap just after the hour mark and the new £30m striker showed an urgency and determination to give Maresca's men extra bite up front. Palmer's ball forward found Delap and his cross was put in by half time substitute Fernandez to wrap it up.
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The Guardian
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
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