Enzo Maresca commended his Chelsea team for their professionalism in handling a "strange" atmosphere as they launched their Club World Cup bid with a win despite nearly 50,000 empty seats. Chelsea secured a 2-0 triumph over Los Angeles FC in their Group D debut at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which can hold 71,000 spectators, but only 22,137 fans attended the Monday afternoon match. This sparked discussions about whether there is much global interest in FIFA's revamped tournament.
In his post-match press conference, Maresca remarked: "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." When questioned about the sparse crowd, LAFC coach Steve Cherundolo responded tactfully.
Cherundolo 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."
Despite the odd setting, Maresca was satisfied with how Chelsea played and was already focusing on the upcoming match against Flamengo in Philadelphia on Friday. Pedro Neto's goal at the 34th minute mark established a lead for the Premier League team, with Liam Delap setting up Enzo Fernandez to secure the win with a second goal in the 79th minute.
Maresca lauded debutant Delap's contribution and swiftly turned his attention to the upcoming match against Brazilian heavyweights Flamengo, mentioning 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, who moved from Ipswich for £30million just under two weeks ago, wasted no time in making an impact, providing a goal assist within merely 15 minutes on the pitch.
Reflecting on his promising start, 22-year-old Delap shared: "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."