Enzo Maresca was left fuming after seeing sweltering 41 degrees Celsius weather conditions force Chelsea to cut a training session short.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The Blues are readying themselves for a meeting with ES Tunis at the FIFA Club World Cup. Said contest will take place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia - home of the Super Bowl-winning Eagles NFL franchise.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Chelsea have been using the Philadelphia Union’s Subaru Park base to prepare for that contest, which sees progress to the last-16 of a global gathering in the United States come up for grabs. They have, however, spent little time out on the field.
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DID YOU KNOW?
That is because a heatwave, which has been billed as dangerous to player health, has seen temperatures soar across North America. Chelsea incorporated fans and water sprays into their latest training session, but they still had to finish early.
WHAT MARESCA SAID
Maresca said afterwards: “It is almost impossible to train or to make a session because of the weather. Now we are trying just to save energy for the game. This morning’s session has been very, very, very short. It’s been just about tomorrow’s game, planning for tomorrow, and that’s it. We are going to try to do our best. We will try to win.”
Forecasters claim the “feel like” temperature when Chelsea kick off against ES Tunis will be 40C, with Maresca adding on coping with those conditions: “We have the cooling break during the game which helps a little. Tomorrow will be our 60th game of the season. The ones who had international games had even more. We try to give them as much time as possible for recovery.”
Enzo Maresca Chelsea 2025 FIFA Club World CupGetty
WHAT NEXT FOR CHELSEA?
Having suffered defeat to Flamengo last time out, Chelsea must avoid another setback against African opposition in order to secure progress to the Club World Cup knockout stages and keep their dreams of savouring ultimate glory alive.