Chelsea defeat Los Angeles in poorly attended Club World Cup opener
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Chelsea's Pedro Neto scores their first goal.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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ATLANTA – Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca labelled the atmosphere in his team’s opening Club World Cup game on June 16 “strange”, after the Blues triumphed in front of nearly 50,000 empty seats.
The Uefa Conference League winners defeated Los Angeles FC 2-0 at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta with only 22,000 fans present at the 71,000-capacity arena.
“The environment was a bit strange, the stadium was almost empty, not full,” Maresca told reporters.
“We are professional, we have to adapt to the situation, to the environment... It’s important the behaviour of the players, the attitude, and once again they showed how professional they are.”
The Italian added that his team had expected a larger crowd, but were hopeful they would get that in their second game against Brazil’s Flamengo in Philadelphia on June 20.
“We prepared this game also thinking that the environment was a bit different. But no doubt that the next one will be a nice one, because we know that the Brazilian teams, they always bring many, many fans,” he said.
Over 60,000 spectators attended the opening match between Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and Al Ahly on June 14 at the Hard Rock Stadium, while 80,000 were present at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena the next day for the clash between Champions League winners Paris-Saint Germain and Atletico Madrid.
Plenty of Boca Juniors fans among the 55,000 crowd created a raucous atmosphere later on June 16 for their match against Benfica in Miami.
But, with Chelsea playing at 3pm local time on a working Monday, the stadium was under a third full.
Major League Soccer (MLS) side Atlanta United average nearly 47,000 fans at their matches and are the best supported US team.
“PSG against Atletico, in front of a big crowd at the Rose Bowl... so I don’t know if there’s just more fans in Los Angeles who are into this tournament than here, or if it’s the pairing tonight,” said LA coach Steve Cherundolo.
However, the American said it was too early to judge Fifa’s new expanded competition on the basis of just one match.
“Regarding crowds, I think it’s kind of different each game you look at, so I don’t think we should be talking about this right now,” he added.
“I think we should wait until the end of the tournament...(to make) an opinion about it as a whole, as opposed to one game.”
Giant screen Hisense showing a sparse crowd of just over 22,000 settled in at the 71,000 capacity Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
PHOTO: AFP
Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez’s goals got Chelsea off to a good start in Group D.
New signing Liam Delap made his debut as a substitute and helped set up Fernandez’s strike, with the Blues hoping to re-establish themselves among the elite after their Conference League triumph and Champions League qualification.
Maresca also said it was a “very good result” and was happy with Delap’s display.
“The good thing about Liam is he knows the way we want to play, so the process is quite quick,” said the Italian.
“It was important to win today and also not to concede a goal.” AFP, REUTERS
