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Times
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Times
‘It's a joke' — Enzo Maresca fumes after Chelsea's two-hour weather delay
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.' Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. 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.
New York Times
10 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Maresca calls Chelsea's two-hour weather delay ‘a joke' and questions choice of U.S. Club World Cup venue cities
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca has labelled the Club World Cup's storm delays a 'joke' and questioned whether some American cities are 'the right place' to host games in a major tournament. Weather conditions in Charlotte forced a near-two-hour-delay to Chelsea's round-of-16 clash with Benfica on Saturday evening before the Premier League team ran out 4-1 winners in extra time. Advertisement Maresca was furious that play was suspended for 113 minutes while match officials waited for the storm to pass over the Bank of America Stadium. It was the sixth storm-enforced interruption of the Club World Cup so far and the third delay of more than an hour. Angel Di Maria scored a controversial penalty in stoppage time following the restart to send it into extra-time and while Chelsea ultimately won 4-1 the game did not finish until 8.38pm, four hours and 38 minutes after it started. 'I think for me personally it's not football,' Marseca said when asked how difficult it was to play after the stoppage. 'It's already seven, eight, nine 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. I can understand that for security reasons, you are to suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that means that probably is not the right place to do this competition. '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. So I'm happy, very happy. But at the same time, there are things that you struggle to understand for two hours before the game and then go again. And you see it. They scored because they need to chase. We are inside, we are winning. You go outside, mentally different. It's difficult.' Ask whether he was talking specifically about the stadium in Charlotte, 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. This is what I said.' And when asked if the delays were damaging the competition, Maresca said: 'Guys, 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, seven games suspended, probably the one that they decide, they need a reason, because it's not normal to suspend a game. In a World Cup, how many games are suspended? Zero, probably. In Europe, how many games? Zero.' Chelsea posted pictures during the weather break of their players using exercise bikes and playing football in the dressing room to stay ready but Maresca suggested it was not possible to keep the usual focus. 'It's not the same game because you break the tempo,' he said. '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.' The victory means Chelsea will play Palmeiras at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on July 4. Win that and they will play a semi-final, and possibly a final, at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, which is one of the other venues to have suffered a weather delay at the Club World Cup. Five Club World Cup group games had already been delayed by the weather before Chelsea's match against Benfica became the first knockout match to be suspended. Ulsan and Mamelodi Sundowns in Orlando, Florida, was delayed by more than an hour on June 17. The following day in Cincinnati, Ohio, roughly 900 miles away, Red Bull Salzburg's match against Pachuca was also delayed for 97 minutes because of severe thunderstorms. Then on June 19 at MetLife Stadium, in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which is the final venue for this tournament and the 2026 World Cup, the match between Palmeiras and Al Ahly was also suspended briefly as flash storms rolled through the region amid scorching heat that left fans scrambling for shade and water. In nearby Central Park in Manhattan, less than 14 miles away, a 15-year-old survived after being struck by lightning. Advertisement The longest weather delay came when Benfica's 6-0 win over Auckland City was held up by a two-hour weather delay due to thunderstorms in Orlando, again. Auckland were forced off again in their final group game against Boca Juniors at Geodis Park in Nashville, returning from a 40 minute delay in which time the Argentinian club had been eliminated by the result in the other group game, to draw 1-1 . Yes. 'What you're seeing right now is very typical. This is not unusual at all,' Ben Schott, operations chief with the National Weather Service, told The Athletic in the opening week. 'Next year, we may be going through the same thing.' Scott has been working closely with FIFA and organizers over the past eight months to prepare for next year, and is also overseeing his agency's planning for the 2028 Olympics in L.A.. The longest weather delay so far came when Benfica's 6-0 win over Auckland City was marred by a delay of more than two hours due to thunderstorms in Orlando. 'This time of year, especially east of the Rockies, we see thunderstorm development quite frequently. Especially in the northern half of the U.S., (from) Cincinnati all the way east to New York,' Schott said. 'It's not unusual this time of year to have cold fronts coming through, producing thunderstorms that are going to come through with each cold front. That can come through every three to five, seven days.' It should be noted that of the six delays so far, only the one at MetLife took place in a city that will stage World Cup games, as Orlando, Cincinnati, Nashville and Charlotte all missed out on hosting rights. The map below shows where the World Cup matches will be held. In addition to the final of this year's tournament, MetLife Stadium will host both semi-finals and a quarter-final — the winners of Real Madrid v Juventus and Borussia Dortmund v Monterrey. Orlando has twice had games delayed and the Camping World Stadium will play host to Manchester City v Al Hilal on Monday June 30 and the winner of that game versus the winner of Inter v Fluminense in a quarter-final on July 4. Advertisement The Inter v Fluminense game is being staged at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Monday, where Chelsea were so delayed. Flamengo v Bayern Munich and Real Madrid v Juventus are being played at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, which was criticised for its hosting of the Copa America final last summer but has staged games without serious incident at this tournament. The other two round of 16 games will be played at Atlanta's Mercedes Benz Stadium, which is the only one of the 12 tournament venues to have a full roof. [bracket-widget id='159″]
The Independent
15 hours ago
- Climate
- The Independent
Thunderstorm forces players off in Chelsea's CWC last-16 clash with Benfica
Chelsea's bid to reach the Club World Cup quarter-finals was delayed as their clash with Benfica in Charlotte was interrupted by a thunderstorm on Saturday. Enzo Maresca's side were leading 1-0 and just four minutes away from securing their place in the last eight when the referee took players off the field at the Bank of America Stadium. Captain Reece James had broken the deadlock with a superb free-kick in 64th minute, rewarding Chelsea for a dominant display. Yet as the final whistle neared, the sky darkened and a game which had largely been played in sweltering 32C heat was halted. It is the latest of a number of matches in the tournament to have been paused because of a thunderstorm. The winner of the game, when completed, will face Brazilian side Palmeiras in Philadelphia on Friday.
The Sun
16 hours ago
- Climate
- The Sun
Chelsea vs Benfica SUSPENDED with just five minutes left due to severe lightning storm as fans told to evacuate
CHELSEA'S Club World Cup last 16 clash with Benfica was delayed with just five minutes remaining after a weather warning in the area. The game, which was being played at the Bank of America Stadium in North Carolina, was immediately halted with all players removed from the pitch and taken inside. 2 2 A message displayed on the screens inside the ground told fans to take cover away from their seats and head for the concourse. It read: "Seek cover protocol. Sever weather in the area. Seek cover." Fans were quick to take shelter and get themselves a drink and a bite to eat while they ducked away from the approaching storm before play could resume. Heat in the area had hit highs of 33 degrees Celsius during the game. THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..
Al Jazeera
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: Chelsea vs Benfica – FIFA Club World Cup
Chelsea entertain Benfica in the round of 16 at the FIFA Club World Cup. The match at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, kicks off at 4pm (21:00 GMT).
