By John Boston
Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca hailed a “great achievement” for his team after two goals from Joao Pedro gave the Blues a 2-0 win over Fluminense in the semi-finals of the Club World Cup.
Pedro, who only completed his £60 million move from Brighton last week, scored either side of the break against the Brazilian side to set up a Sunday showdown with PSG or Real Madrid.
The result also secured a payout of at least £80m for the Blues and left Maresca to reflect on a successful, albeit long, 2024-25 campaign.
He told reporters after the game: “It is a great achievement. It has been a fantastic season – top four in the Premier League, Conference League winners, and now in the final of this competition. We are so, so happy.”
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Pedro living the dream
Playing on his full debut against the team where he started his professional career, Pedro curled in the opener in the 18th minute before sealing the win via the underside of the crossbar in the 56th minute.
And the 23-year-old could barely conceal his delight after the victory, although he did offer an apology for scoring against his former team.
He said: “I think it was a dream. I don’t think it could have been better – two goals. Now we need to think about the final.
“I am happy to score my first goals for Chelsea but also I know this tournament is very important for Fluminense.
“I can just say sorry but I have to be professional. I play for Chelsea. They pay me to score goals and today I was happy to score.”
Maresca added: “I am very happy for Joao. He has the quality to decide games like today, but also he was on holiday so is probably a bit more fresh compared to the rest.
“We knew what Joao was like. We brought him in because this season we faced many teams with low blocks and his quality is very good against these kinds of teams.”
Caicedo doubtful for final
On Sunday, Chelsea will play their 64th and final game of a campaign which started last August, but they could be forced to do so without key midfielder Moises Caicedo, who picked up an ankle injury towards the end of the game.
The Chelsea boss continued: “I told him that he has to do everything to be on the pitch on Sunday so we will see.”
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