‘A joke’ – Enzo Maresca questions USA in summer as right place for FIFA Club World Cup after weather delay in Chelsea’s win over Benfica

The weather looked unsettled in the background in Charlotte, but there was no rain at the time the players went back to the changing rooms.

After a two-hour weather delay, Angel Di Maria scored a penalty deep into stoppage time to take the match into extra time.

But Maresca was not happy with events in North Carolina, and suggested the United States in summer was not the best place for the tournament to be held.

“For 85 minutes we were in control of the game,” Maresca said. “After the break, the game changed completely.

“For me, it’s not football. It’s already seven, eight, nine games that they suspended. I think it’s a joke, to be honest – it’s not football. It’s not for us. You cannot be inside. I struggle to understand.

“I can understand that for security reasons, you suspend the game. But if you suspend seven, eight games, that means that probably (this) is not the right place to do this competition.”

Per Sky Sports, six games have been disrupted by weather, and Maresca said “there is something that is not working”.

“It’s a joke,” Maresca said. “That’s why I said it. If they’ve already suspended six games, probably there is something that is not working.

“I’m not here to decide the rule. I’m no one to decide the rule. I’m the last one. I’m talking as a manager. As a manager, it’s difficult to manage two hours suspended.

“There is some problem for me personally. But I’m not talking – I’m talking as a manager. Because when you are two hours inside and you try to keep them in the game, but for two hours, they are speaking with the family outside for safety reasons.

“They are eating something, they are playing, they are laughing. How can you keep them two hours inside, focused?

“We are happy to be in this competition. But it’s something that it’s not normal for.”

Despite being unhappy with some aspects of the day, Maresca was pleased to progress to the quarter-finals.

“I’m very proud,” Maresca told DAZN. “The performance for me was top until the last five minutes when they stopped the game, and when we restarted (it was) a completely a different game.

“When you are inside for more than one hour it’s not easy but, 1-1, we continued to play and, at the end, I think the reward was one that we deserve.”

“We are in the last eight teams here in this competition and we are very happy.”