Club World Cup players all have the same concern about FIFA tournament
The Club World Cup is currently ongoing in the United States of America but players are raising concerns to FIFA about the conditions at their revamped tournament
Players at the Club World Cup have serious concerns over the sweltering heat they are being forced to play in. FIFA's new-look tournament kicked off on Saturday at the height of summer in host country the United States of America.
The Premier League are represented by Manchester City and Chelsea. The Blues get their tournament underway on Monday night against Los Angeles FC, while City will take on Wydad AC in Philadelphia on Wednesday.
That game at Lincoln Financial Field will kick-off at midday Eastern Time, with temperatures expected to exceed 30 degrees Celcius. In preparation, City boss Guardiola has been holding long training sessions in his side's Florida base.
Last Friday, their session lasted nearly two hours in temperatures surpassing 32 degrees Celcius. English clubs are of course not used to playing in the scorching summer heat.
And City star Tijjani Reijnders has admitted that the players are feeling weary ahead of Wednesday's game. But the Dutchman has insisted that the City squad will be ready to deal with the heat.
"It's going to be hard. There are a lot of good teams [in the tournament] and the weather is very hot," Reijnders said. "We're getting used to it and we'll be ready for Wednesday. We take it very seriously. We want to win every tournament we play. This is nothing different."
Reijnders is far from the only player to cite the heat as a major issue. Atletico Madrid's heavy defeat to Paris Saint-Germain at the weekend was played in 40 degree Celcius, with both camps citing heat as an issue.
Atletico midfielder Marcos Llorente sounded the most alarming warning. He said: "It's impossible. It's terribly hot. My toes were sore, my nails were hurting. I couldn't stop or start. In the end, it's incredible. Since it's the same for everyone, there's no complaint."
PSG boss Luis Enrique is also concerned games could be decided by the heat. He added: "The match was clearly influenced by the temperature. The timing is great for European fans, but the teams are suffering."
One of the French side's scorers Vitinha pointed to the heat as the source of Atletico's issues. He said: "Of course, it's difficult. It's for both teams. It might be a bit harder for Atlético because they don't have the ball.
"For me, it's harder to run after the ball. It's hot here today at this time. I'm all red. It was really difficult, but we're trying to recover as much as possible because at this point in the season, it can be decisive."
FIFA has had protocols in place for hot weather Club World Cups since 2014, but the procedure allows for only "cooling breaks," which mean players can take on extra fluids once in each half if the pitch temperature average of heat and humidity exceeds 32 Celsius.
During last year's Copa América, which was also held in the United States, there were two incidents of heat-related dehydration.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
28 minutes ago
- Reuters
Boca Juniors turn up the heat in Miami with Benfica draw
MIAMI, June 16 (Reuters) - After Lionel Messi lit up the Club World Cup opener, Miami's Hard Rock Stadium was awash in Argentine passion again as Boca Juniors fans turned it into a little Buenos Aires for their team's 2-2 draw with Benfica on Monday. A day after draping the shores of Miami Beach in blue and gold on the eve of their team's debut, the Boca fans chanted their way into the arena and through the game, which put them in second place in Group C behind Bayern Munich after the German champions demolished Auckland City 10-0 on Sunday. Both teams finished with 10 men after Benfica's Andrea Bellotti and Boca's Nicolas Figal picked up straight red cards in a heated contest that saw the Portuguese team cancel out a two-goal deficit. Boca next face Bayern on Friday in Miami while Benfica will face Auckland City in Orlando, FL. After a scrappy opening 20 minutes, the stands trembled when Boca went ahead in the 21st as Lautaro Blanco's low cross was met by Miguel Merentiel, triggering wild celebrations. Six minutes later, the Argentine side doubled the tally with a Rodrigo Battaglia header, stunning Benfica, who had been dominating from the onset. Nicolas Otamendi was then brought down in the box and Benfica earned a penalty following a VAR review and Di Maria coolly sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to cut the goal deficit down to one at the stroke of halftime. Benfica were down to 10 in the 70th after Bellotti was shown a straight red card for a high kick in the back of the head of Ayrton Costa. The Portuguese side, however, levelled six minutes from time when Otamendi found the back of the net with a powerful header. The result kept the six-time Copa Libertadores champions' hopes alive to advance into the knockout phase, which would be a boost for the tournament as South American fans are expected to bring the biggest amount of passion into the stadiums.
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Enzo Maresca has one eye on next game after Chelsea's opening CWC victory
The Mercedes-Benz Stadium was less than a third full as the players walked out in front of 22,137 fans but Pedro Neto broke the deadlock in the 34th minute to give Chelsea a deserved lead at the interval. The Premier League side pushed for a second and finally got it in the 79th minute as summer signing Liam Delap crossed the ball to fellow substitute Enzo Fernandez, who tapped in from close range. Off the mark with a win. See you in 3 days. 🇺🇸 — Tosin Adarabioyo (@TosinAdarabioyo) June 16, 2025 Maresca praised debutant Delap and quickly switched his attention to the fixture against Flamengo on Friday. He said on Channel 5: 'Very good result. At this stage of the season it is also normal that you have to manage different kinds of things. Overall the performance has been good. 'We have to recover. We have a game in three days so we will see. We are going to prepare in the best way and for sure try to win. 'The good thing about Liam is he knows the way we want to play so the process is quite quick. Also we gave a chance to Dario Essugo which is another player we have, so it's good for both of them.' Delap, 22, signed from Ipswich for £30million 12 days ago and it took him just 15 minutes to register his first goal contribution as he supplied Fernandez to make it 2-0. Delap said: 'It's a really happy feeling for me. I'm so excited to be here and to play my first game, and be able to contribute is a good feeling. 'The team have welcomed me really well. I have only had a few sessions here but I am excited for more. 'It is good to help the team but I want to score some as well. 'It is always good to have competition, this is football. It is an incredible club and it is always going to be incredibly hard but you have to thrive off the competition.'
North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Chelsea win Club World Cup opener against LAFC in front of empty seats
The players walked out at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which holds a capacity of 71,000, with only 22,137 fans in attendance and the entire upper tier of the arena was completely vacant. Chelsea played in front of over 70,000 fans at the same venue against Newcastle in the Premier League's Summer Series just a couple of years ago but deserted seats were the common theme this time as Enzo Maresca's side claimed the first three points of their campaign. Off to a great start. 🙌 — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) June 16, 2025 The few who turned up saw Neto open Chelsea's account just after the half-hour mark to give the Blues a well-deserved lead heading into the half-time break. Chelsea were made to work hard for their second goal, with £30million summer signing Liam Delap introduced after the break and he supplied fellow substitute Fernandez with the second to seal the victory 11 minutes from time. Former Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris was brought into action early on to deny Nicolas Jackson, who forced a snapshot on target in tight space from inside the area. Chelsea dominated possession and were beginning to trap LAFC closer to their own goal. Jackson did well to pick out Noni Madueke who forced another save from Lloris. The Conference League winners broke the deadlock in the 34th minute. Neto broke the offside trap and latched onto Jackson's magnificent pass and the Portugal international cut the ball back in and fired into the bottom corner. LAFC chances were few and far between in the first period but Denis Bouanga's cross caused problems for Robert Sanchez, who flapped at the delivery and sent it behind for a corner. The American side did not want to back down to Chelsea though, and substitute David Martinez made an impact off the bench. His curling strike looked to have Sanchez scrambling but former Blues forward Olivier Giroud accidentally got himself in the way of the effort. The perfect start for The Blues. 🔵#FIFACWC — FIFA Club World Cup (@FIFACWC) June 16, 2025 Chelsea almost doubled their advantage after the interval, Neto's teasing cross found Jackson who headed on target but Timothy Tillman proved to be the saviour on the line to keep the deficit at one. New signing Delap was introduced for his Chelsea debut in the 63rd minute and instantly made an impact. He almost made a second with his dazzling footwork on the byline but his pass into the box was snuffed out. Chelsea continued to probe in search of a two-goal cushion and they found it in the 79th minute – Delap got the assist as he hung a ball into the middle of the box and Fernandez was waiting to tap home.
