Enzo Maresca Slams Club World Cup Chaos After Weather Delay
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What Happened in Charlotte?
Chelsea’s Club World Cup match against Benfica turned into a five-hour marathon after a thunderstorm stopped play in the 86th minute. Fans were evacuated. Players were stuck in the dressing room. The momentum was lost. And when the game resumed nearly two hours later, it had turned on its head.
Despite dominating for most of the match and leading 1–0 thanks to a stunning Reece James free kick, Chelsea were forced into extra time after Angel Di Maria’s controversial equalizer. But they rallied hard and secured a 4–1 win, scoring three times in extra time.
Maresca’s Furious Response
Head coach Enzo Maresca didn’t hold back.
“I think it’s a joke, to be honest. It’s not football,” Maresca said after the match.
He called out the location and timing of the tournament, pointing to the fact that this was the sixth game interrupted by weather.
“If you suspend seven, eight games, that means probably this is not the right place to do this competition.”
He added that managing a team during a two-hour stop is “impossible,” noting that players were eating, talking with family, and trying to stay warm on exercise bikes. The intensity, he said, simply evaporated.
The Bigger Problem
This isn’t an isolated issue.
Lightning delays have already disrupted:
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Benfica vs Auckland City (Orlando)
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Ulsan HD vs Mamelodi Sundowns (Orlando)
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Red Bull Salzburg vs Pachuca (Cincinnati)
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Palmeiras vs Al Ahly (New Jersey)
Storms aren’t just common—they’re predictable in this region and season. And that’s Maresca’s point: If it keeps happening, why are we surprised?
“We are happy to be here. We are proud to be in the competition. But this? This is not normal.”
Players Speak Out
Captain Reece James echoed Maresca’s frustration:“It was a very difficult game with a lot of interruptions. The pitch wasn’t great. The climate wasn’t great.”
But he praised his team’s fight:“To stop at 85 minutes and come back with three goals in extra time? That says a lot about who we are.”
Midfielder Moises Caicedo, who will miss the next match due to suspension, added:“We were talking in the dressing room, just trying to stay focused. I’m proud because we did it.”
A Tournament Plagued by Storms
The facts speak for themselves:
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6 games disrupted across 5 cities
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Multiple delays over 60–120 minutes
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Players warming up twice, cooling down twice, and trying to reset
This isn’t just inconvenient. It’s a structural problem that impacts performance, fan experience, and fairness.
What This Means for the 2026 World Cup
Here’s the kicker: the 2026 World Cup will be held in the same cities, at the same time of year, across the same stadiums.
Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol nailed it:
“We better get used to these delays because the World Cup will be here next year at the same time of year.”
If FIFA doesn’t address the issue now, expect more chaotic nights like this one—only with global stakes on the line.
What’s Next for Chelsea?
Chelsea moves on to face Palmeiras in the quarter-finals at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field. The match kicks off at 2am UK time on Saturday.
After a night like this, one thing’s certain: the players will need every hour of recovery they can get.
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