Philadelphia (AFP) – Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca has insisted that the club’s owners are not putting extra pressure on him to win the Club World Cup as a result of the enormous financial incentives on offer at FIFA’s new tournament. World football’s governing body has dangled the carrot of a total $1 billion in prize money to the 32 competing teams in the United States. If Chelsea, as one of the 12 European representatives, go on to win the trophy on July 13, they can take home around $125 million (£92.4m) as a cash reward. That could give the Stamford Bridge side a considerable advantage over many of their English and European rivals going forward into next season.
However, Maresca claims money has not come up in discussions with the club’s hierarchy around the ongoing competition. “The owners just want the best for us and for the players game by game, and they are not talking about the final prize or the final reward in terms of money,” the Italian told reporters in Philadelphia ahead of Tuesday’s match against Esperance of Tunis. “They never put pressure on me or the players in terms of we need to win this tournament because of the money.”
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Chelsea must avoid defeat against the Tunisian four-time African champions in order to qualify for the last 16 from Group D. That is after they were beaten 3-1 by Brazilian giants Flamengo in their last game, when Maresca appeared to prioritize tactical experiments over the need for results. Playing Cole Palmer on the right of a front three was not a success, as the England international struggled to make a big impact on the game. “Off the ball, Cole was defending a little more wide, but the position on the ball was exactly the same position as during the season,” Maresca explained. “If it is a good moment or not to try new things, I don’t know. But we also are here to think about the future, and to try different systems. Last year we played three or four different systems during the season. The idea is to continue to evolve and improve, and to try different things.”
– Heat factor – Philadelphia is sweating under a fierce heatwave at the moment, and while the 9:00 pm local time kick-off on Wednesday should mean that is not a huge factor for the game itself, it has made preparations tricky. “It is almost impossible to train because of the weather. Now we are just trying to save energy for the game,” said Maresca, who is likely to rotate his squad and make numerous changes to the starting line-up. Striker Nicolas Jackson is suspended after being sent off against Flamengo having come on as a substitute only a few minutes earlier. Chelsea won their opening match at the tournament, defeating Los Angeles FC 2-0 in Atlanta, before the reverse at the hands of Flamengo.
Esperance bounced back from a defeat to the Brazilians as they beat LAFC 1-0 in Nashville in their last outing — that is the only victory so far in six matches at this Club World Cup for a North African team. If Chelsea go through, they will head to Charlotte for a last-16 tie on Saturday against the winners of Group C, which could be Bayern Munich. “If we go through, we can talk about Bayern,” said Maresca. “In this moment it has to be about tomorrow. Football is full of surprises.”
Maher Kanzari, the coach of the Tunisian champions, said his team were ready for a ‘historical’ battle against the Blues. “We are prepared and we have to fulfill the expectations of our technical team, of our fans, of the Tunisian public. It will be a historical game,” he said. “We will be well prepared, especially mentally. Everyone is waiting for this game and we are really proud of what we have achieved so far. Hopefully, we will do what it takes.”
© 2024 AFP
