‘It’s a joke’: Chelsea boss Maresca slams weather chaos

Chelsea supervisor Enzo Maresca lashed out on the two-hour climate extend that disrupted his crew’s Membership World Cup victory over Benfica on Saturday, suggesting the event must always be played in numerous locations in future.

Chelsea powered into the quarter-finals after defeating Benfica 4-1 in extra-time after a sport that took 4hrs 39mins to total following a two-hour stoppage due to a storm warning.

It used to be the sixth time that a sport has been halted on the event due to broadly extinct tips in the USA that require exterior carrying events to be halted if there is an different of lightning.

Maresca said afterwards the likelihood of video games that had been disrupted must always in fact useful a rethink.

“For me personally, it’s now not soccer,” the Chelsea boss said. “It’s already (six) video games they suspended here. I judge it’s a shaggy dog myth. It’s now not soccer.

“It’s fully unheard of, it’s fully one thing original that I war to achieve.

“I'm able to achieve that for security causes, it is indispensable to stoop the sport. But in case you stoop seven or eight video games, that approach that potentially here is now not the precise set apart apart to enact this opponents.”

Chelsea had been poised to wrap up victory after Reece James’s 2nd-half free-kick left them 1-0 up with four minutes left to play.

But the storm warning compelled the avid gamers off the sphere and it used to be on the subject of 2 hours sooner than play resumed.

“It used to be one among the most attention-grabbing performances of the outdated couple of weeks,” Maresca said.

“The game used to be very in fact useful for 85 minutes, then we stopped for 2 hours, and once we started it used to be an fully varied sport. It’s now not the identical sport on fable of you ruin the tempo.”

Maresca emphasised that he remained partial to the Membership World Cup, which used to be expanded to 32 groups for the critical time this one year, and is being held in the USA as an informal costume rehearsal for the 2026 World Cup in North The United States.

“It’s an unheard of opponents. It’s the Membership World Cup, the complete most attention-grabbing clubs are here,” he said.

“But six, seven video games suspended? It’s now not habitual. In a World Cup what number of maintain they suspended? Doubtlessly zero. In a European (Championship), what number of video games? Zero. There is some suppose.”