JAKARTA - Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca questioned the United States as hosting the 2025 Club World Cup and branded a two-hour delay due to the weather in the last 16 match against Benfica as a joke.
The Blues advanced to the quarter-finals against Palmeiras with a 4-1 win over Benfica at the Bank of America Stadium, Sunday, June 29, 2025, after extra time.
Chelsea took a 1-0 lead through Reece James' free-kick in the 64th minute before Slovenian referee Slavko Badminton stopped the match due to lightning in the area with four minutes of normal time remaining.
After the match restarted - as more than 25,929 spectators had left the venue -Benfica was awarded a penalty in injury time for handball by Malo Gusto.
Angel Di Maria equalized from the penalty spot to force a 2 x 15 minute extension round.
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After Benfica winger Gianluca Prestiani received a red card in the 92nd minute, Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto, and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored in the extension round, but Maresca was annoyed with the problem of stopping the match.
The termination of the match was the second-longest. Overall, the termination of the Benfica vs Chelsea match became the sixth because of the weather throughout the 2025 Club World Cup.
"We didn't concede anything. We created enough chances to win the game."
"Then, after the break, the game changed completely. For me personally, it's not football. It's been seven, eight, nine games have been suspended."
"To be honest, I think this is a joke, it's not football. It's not for us. You can't be inside (too long)."
"It's really something new, but I have a hard time understanding it. I can understand that for security reasons, you have to suspend the game."
"If you suspend seven, eight games, that means it may not be the right place to host this tournament," Maresca said.
When asked if the termination was detrimental to the tournament, Maresca implicitly confirmed it.
"Please, don't get me wrong. I say this is a fantastic tournament. It's the Club World Cup. It's the best. We're happy to be in the last eight. We're happy to win all these kinds of things."
"However, something happened. Six, seven games were suspended, maybe what they decided, they needed a reason for not being normal to suspend the game."
"In the World Cup, how many matches have been suspended? Maybe zero. In Europe, how many matches? Zero."
"We are here, two weeks, the game has been suspended by six, seven games. There are some problems for me personally."
"However, I speak as a manager. Because when you're inside for two hours, you're trying to keep them playing."
"It's just that, for two hours, they talk to the family outside for security reasons. They eat something, they play, they laugh. How can you keep them focused for two hours inside? It's a joke."
"That's why I said it. That's when we were happy. We were happy to be here. We were happy to be in this tournament. However, it was something abnormal," said Maresca.
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