Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca praised his players for dealing with a “strange” environment after kicking off their Club World Cup campaign with a victory in front of almost 50,000 empty seats.
The Blues beat Los Angeles FC 2-0 in their Group D opener at the 71,000-capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta in a fixture watched by a crowd of just 22,137 on Monday afternoon as a debate over the level of interest in FIFA’s new-look competition raged on.
Speaking at his post-match press conference, Maresca, said: “I think the environment was a bit strange, the stadium was almost empty, not full.
“We are professional and we have to adapt to the situation, to the environment. You have to adapt when you play with a full stadium. You have to adapt when the stadium is not full, but it doesn’t matter.”
Asked about the poor attendance, opposite number Steve Cherundolo was diplomatic.
The LAFC boss said: “I think it is different each game you look at. In the Rose Bowl in LA, there was a huge crowd for the game between PSG and Atletico Madrid. Maybe LA likes football more than Atlanta? I don’t know, we should judge at the end.”
Maresca was nevertheless pleased with Chelsea’s performance, but was already looking towards Friday’s clash with Flamengo in Philadelphia.
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Pedro Neto broke the deadlock in the 34th minute to give the Premier League side a deserved lead at the interval, and they wrapped up victory in the 79th minute when summer signing Liam Delap crossed for fellow substitute Enzo Fernandez to tap in from close range.
Maresca praised debutant Delap and quickly switched his attention to the fixture against Brazilian outfit Flamengo.
He said on Channel 5: “Very good result. At this stage of the season it is also normal that you have to manage different kinds of things. Overall the performance has been good.
“We have to recover. We have a game in three days so we will see. We are going to prepare in the best way and for sure try to win.
“The good thing about Liam is he knows the way we want to play so the process is quite quick. Also we gave a chance to Dario Essugo which is another player we have, so it’s good for both of them.”
Delap signed from Ipswich for £30million 12 days ago and it took him just 15 minutes to register his first goal contribution.
The 22-year-old said: “It’s a really happy feeling for me. I’m so excited to be here and to play my first game, and be able to contribute is a good feeling.
“The team have welcomed me really well. I have only had a few sessions here but I am excited for more.
“It is good to help the team but I want to score some as well.
“It is always good to have competition, this is football. It is an incredible club and it is always going to be incredibly hard but you have to thrive off the competition.”
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