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Enzo Maresca’s men will hope to book their spot in the last eight
Chelsea and Benfica’s tussle for a quarter-final place at the Club World Cup has been hit by a long weather delay with just four minutes left to play in Charlotte.
The referee took the players from the field in the 86th minute with Chelsea seemingly set for the last eight thanks to Reece James’s fine free kick in the second half.
The expanded tournament has been beset with problems but the relative success of the South American sides has created some intriguing round of 16 encounters. Chelsea might have thought they were destined for a date with Bayern Munich when they suffered defeat to Flamengo but Benfica’s success against the Bundesliga winners instead meant they topped their group, setting up this clash in Charlotte.
Enzo Maresca would have been encouraged by how his weary squad bounced back from their loss, with Liam Delap on the scoresheet for the first time in a Chelsea shirt against ES Tunis. Benfica have plenty of experience within their ranks, including Angel Di Maria, who will return to boyhood club Rosario Central when the Portuguese side are knocked out of this tournament.
Follow all of the latest from the round of 16 clash with our live blog below. Watch every Fifa Club World Cup game free on DAZN. Sign up here now.
Shake hands, call it a Chelsea win and head home?
Oh dear – more lightning in the area resets the clock to half-an-hour as the delay is extended.
Still we wait.
Some suggestions of a 20-minute warm-up period once the players are allowed to re-enter the playing area imminently. Is that really necessary? There may only be a matter of minutes left.
Still we wait for the players to re-emerge, though assuming there is no more lightning, the restart should be relatively prompt.
A Fifa statement has landed: “Due to adverse weather conditions in Charlotte, including the risk of lightning in the vicinity of Bank of America Stadium, the FIFA Club World Cup match between SL Benfica and Chelsea FC has been suspended. A 30-minute break has been foreseen.
“Fifa will follow the established safety protocols, and the match will resume as soon as it’s safe to do so.”
Benfica have already experienced a weather delay once at this tournament, their game against Auckland City suspended for two hours. Sigh…
Most of the Bank of America Stadium is still bathed in sunshine.
Hang on – the game is being halted! Bad weather in the area, including the threat of lightning, and the referee has taken them indoors even with just five minutes to play.
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