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WEDNESDAY | JUNE 18, 2025

Malaysian Paper

‘I’ve come full circle’

Messi mania lifts CWC

Benfica fight back

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Empty seats … as Chelsea win opener at Club World Cup

C HELSEA began their Club World Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory against Los Angeles FC in a largely empty sta dium yesterday as Benfica comeback denied Boca Juniors in a stormy encounter. As the inaugural 32-team tournament gradually kicks into gear in the United States, Chelsea followed fellow European heavyweights Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich by claiming three points in their first group outing. Yet while Uefa Champions League winners PSG were ominous against Atletico Madrid on Monday, and Bayern put 10 past Auckland City, the Premier League team were more solid than spectacular against LAFC in Atlanta. Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez got the goals for Enzo Maresca’s side in the Group D match before nearly 50,000 empty seats at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium – not a great look for the tournament organisers. New signing Liam Delap made his debut as

game against Flamengo. “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 added. LA coach Steve Cherundolo said: “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 . 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.” – AFP

tournament, beating Club America in a playoff last month to replace banned Mexican side Club Leon. Chelsea went ahead just after the half hour mark when Nicolas Jackson released Neto and the Portuguese winger turned inside LA defender Ryan Hollingshead before beating goalkeeper Hugo Lloris with a powerful strike. Former Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud came on at half time for the Americans and Steve Cherundolo’s team improved in the second half. However, Delap entered the fray for Chelsea and made the killer second goal, crossing for the arriving Fernandez to control and finish. Chelsea’s next game will be against Flamengo, who began their campaign by easing to a 2-0 win against Esperance of Tunisia in Philadelphia. The Chelsea coach said his team were hopeful they would get that in their second

a substitute and helped set up Fernandez’s strike, with Chelsea hoping to reestablish themselves among the elite after their recent Uefa Conference League triumph and Champions League qualification. Maresca said it was a “very good result” and was happy with Delap’s display following his recent arrival from Ipswich Town. “The good thing about Liam is he knows the way we want to play, so the process is quite quick,” said the Italian. “The environment was a bit strange, the stadium was almost empty, not full,” added Maresca when asked about the crowd, as just over 22,000 attended the 71,000-capacity venue. “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.” LAFC were late qualifiers for the

General view inside the stadium with empty seats in the stands during the Fifa Club World Cup 2025 group D match between Chelsea and Los Angeles at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. – AFPPIC

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