Chelsea’s Club World Cup triumph a ‘statement’, but what might be the cost?

NEW YORK: For Chelsea, victory in Sunday’s Club World Cup decider completed a fine first season under Enzo Maresca, and also finally brought the curtain down on a marathon campaign that they must hope does not catch up with them down the line.

The Cole Palmer-inspired 3-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain at the MetLife Stadium outside New York was Chelsea’s 64th game of a season which lasted 11 months.

By any measure it was one of Chelsea’s best ever campaigns, with their Club World Cup triumph — placed on a par by Maresca to winning the Champions League — following victory in the UEFA Conference League and a fourth-placed finish in the Premier League.

Maresca, an ex-assistant to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, could not have asked for much more after arriving off the back of leading Leicester City to promotion.

“It has been a fantastic season but I am especially happy for the players,” said the Italian, who has succeeded in putting together a coherent team out of the endless line of new signings being brought in by the club’s owners.

“We have said many times that talent alone is not enough. You need to find a way for them to all fit together.”

It all represents considerable progress from just two years ago, when the Stamford Bridge side finished in the bottom half of the Premier League.

Maresca incorporated more new faces during the Club World Cup, with Joao Pedro making a remarkable impact — the Brazilian forward cut short a holiday to complete a £60 million ($79 million) transfer from Brighton and Hove Albion, and went on to score twice in the semifinal against Fluminense and once in the final.

Liam Delap, Dario Essugo, Mamadou Sarr and Andrey Santos all joined up ahead of the month in the United States, while Jamie Gittens has since arrived from Borussia Dortmund and fellow winger Estevao Willian now joins from Palmeiras in Brazil.

Chelsea will hope those signings, added to a squad led by the likes of Palmer, Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo, can make a real push for the Premier League title off the back of their impressive triumph at FIFA’s new tournament.

“It’s a big statement,” captain Reece James told English media shortly after lifting the trophy alongside US President Donald Trump.

“I’m happy with how much the club has progressed and how next season you know we’ll be competing in the Premier League, to win the title and compete, and to go far in the Champions League as well.”

Chelsea have also pocketed a stunning $115 million in prize money from the Club World Cup, but what if there comes a point in 2025/26 when their exploits of this season catch up with them?

While Chelsea have been competing at the Club World Cup in draining weather conditions, Premier League champions Liverpool and runners-up Arsenal have enjoyed extended off-season breaks.

Manchester City were also at the Club World Cup but they went out over a week earlier.

Global players’ union FIFPro has been the leading voices expressing concerns about the demands on the game’s biggest stars in an ever-expanding calendar.

One of the safeguards it proposed in a study published before the tournament was a mandatory four-week off-season break, along with four-week retraining periods before returning to competition.

Chelsea’s off-season is drastically reduced, with their first match of the next Premier League campaign against Crystal Palace slated for August 17, exactly five weeks after the Club World Cup final. They have a friendly against Bayer Leverkusen on August 8.

“Tomorrow I have three weeks of holiay which is all I want right now because I have not stopped in 15 months,” said Maresca on Sunday.

It remains to be seen if Maresca and his players come back sufficiently refreshed before attacking a season in which they hope to go far in the Champions League, and which will end with the World Cup in North America.

PSG face an even tighter squeeze after a historic campaign for Luis Enrique’s team, capped by their triumph in the Champions League final.

Their first competitive match of next season will be the UEFA Super Cup against Tottenham Hotspur in Italy on August 13, exactly one month after their defeat in New York — a chance to win more silverware, but at what cost?

India raced to 52 without loss in 4.5 overs in Game 5 before lightning forced players and officials off the field at the Gabba on Saturday night
The rain set in soon after, and the match was called off more than two hours later without a further ball being bowled

BRISBANE: Shubman Gill’s India squad will take confidence out of a rain-marred 2-1 series win over Australia ahead of the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup it is co-hosting with Sri Lanka early next year.
India raced to 52 without loss in 4.5 overs in Game 5 before lightning forced players and officials off the field at the Gabba on Saturday night.
The rain set in soon after, and the match was called off more than two hours later without a further ball being bowled.
Shubman Gill plundered the bowling, stroking six boundaries as he scored 29 off 16 deliveries. Abhishek Sharma had two reprieves and was 23 off 13, including a flat-batted six over mid-wicket.
It was the second washout of the series, after Game 1 in Canberra was abandoned after 9.4 overs on Oct. 29.
India took a 2-1 series lead with a 48-run victory Thursday on the Gold Coast, where Washington Sundar took three wickets in five deliveries to snuff out Australia’s run chase.
Both teams were using the series as a chance to try combinations and rehearse ahead of the T20 World Cup, now they turn attention from the shortest to the longest format in international cricket.
Australia’s next assignment is the first Ashes test against England in Perth starting Nov. 21. India is hosting South Africa in a two-test series starting Nov. 14.
Two uncharacteristic dropped catches had Australia under pressure after skipper Mitch Marsh won the toss and sent India in to bat on Saturday.
Glenn Maxwell put down a regulation chance in the first over despite getting two hands to it at mid-off when Abhishek miscued a Ben Dwarshuis delivery.
Gill hit the next ball for a boundary down the ground.
Dwarshuis conceded four boundaries in his next over — the third of the innings — with Gill finding the rope down the ground and on both sides of the wicket.
Abhishek had a second reprieve on 13 when he misjudged a faster ball from Nathan Ellis in the fourth over and Dwarshuis dropped a catch at fine leg.
Abhishek cleared the boundary for the first time in the series with a big, heaved six to finish the fourth over.
After the series-opening match was washed out, Australia won the second game before India rallied with a five-wicket win in Game 3.
The Australians won the preceding ODI series 2-1 after taking the first two games.

Chelsea’s Club World Cup triumph a ‘statement’, but what might be the cost?