Enzo Maresca didn’t grasp previously after Chelsea’s frantic Club Planet Mug relationship against Benfica, a match that lasted basically five hours, featured a 2-hour weather grinding halt, and also cast fresh vacillation over the United Says’ capacity to host a flawless Planet Mug next summer.
Chelsea had been spearheading with Reece James’s first-half brunt once the match was halted in the 86th minutes due to surrounding lightning in Charlotte.
With a draconian weather technic encouraged, both players and also dreamers were landed to filch permeate. Light rain ultimately dropped, but it would be 115 minutes before tinker went previously to.
“I believe it’s a joke to be sincere,” Maresca alleged.
“It’s not football. It’s not for us. You cannot be inside [the dressing room]. It’s faithfully something brand-newfangled, but I neutralize to determine.
“I can determine that for safety reasons, you are to worn grasp the arcade. Yet if you worn grasp 7, 8 games, that medians that probably is not the proper territory to implement this tournament.”
Enquired to gambled out, Maresca hinted at the circumstance’s potential to hinder the Planet Mug in 2026.
“It’s a terrific tournament. It’s a Club Planet Mug. It’s apex. We are reduced to be in the last 8. We are reduced to win all these varieties of things.
“Yet something ensues, 6, 7 games suspended… granted that it’s not schedule to worn grasp a arcade.
In a [FIFA men’s] Planet Mug, how multiple games are suspended? Zero, probably. In Europe, how multiple games? Zero.”
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Throughout the long grinding halt, Maresca alleged his players were taken off in limbo.
When the arcade went previously to, Chelsea were languid. Benfica, formerly level, filtered born-again. Angel Di Maria equalised from the place in the 95th minutes abiding with a controversial handball.
“It’s something that you neutralize to determine,” Maresca added.
“Yet we attempted to go out, recur in the extremely same means, knowing that it was arduous. It’s not arbitrary that for 85 minutes, we didn’t acknowledge anything. And after that for five minutes, we acknowledged a few chances. Why? It’s granted that it started a faithfully opposite arcade. It’s not schedule. It’s not football.”
Added time channelled more drama: a red card for Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni, three Chelsea purposes, and also a euphoric Maresca sprinting onto the exchange to celebrate Christopher Nkunku’s brunt.
Chelsea now advance to confront Palmeiras in the quarter-finals, however they’ll be without Moises Caicedo due to suspension.
Still, the $54 million in pot and also look costs currently grossed might patient some anxiousness.
With 6 weather-pertinent standstills currently this tournament throughout five urban regions, what ensues once 48 national crews land next summer?
