Despite Chelsea reached the FIFA Club World Cup quarterfinals on Saturday with a 4-1 win over Benfica in the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca insisted it was "not football."

Maresca was furious that the match lasted for four hours and 38 minutes after U.S. safety regulations saw the two teams taken off the pitch and the game suspended for almost two hours due to a thunderstorm in the region.

Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca criticized the two-hour delay that punctuated his team's 4-1 win over Benfica.[photo: xinhua]

The United States safety regulations mean sporting events have to be suspended if there is a thunderstorm within 13 kilometers of the venue. Chelsea-Benfica was the sixth game at the FIFA Club World Cup to be suspended because of this rule, prompting Maresca to issue his displeasure.

"It's not normal to suspend a game. In a World Cup, how many games are suspended? Probably zero. In Europe, how many games? Zero," complained the Italian.

"For me personally, it's not football. You cannot be inside for two hours. It is something completely new," said Maresca, who questioned whether the U.S. - along with Mexico and Canada - would make a suitable host for next summer's World Cup finals.

"I can understand that for security reasons, you are to suspend the game. But if you suspend six, seven games that means that probably is not the right place to do this competition," he said.

Chelsea had controlled the game and led though Reece James' 64th-minute strike when the match was stopped with five minutes left on the clock, but Benfica regrouped well in the stoppage, with Angel Di Maria netting an injury-time penalty to force an extra half-hour of play.

"For 85 minutes we were in control of the game. We didn't concede anything; we created chances enough to win the game. And then after the break the game changed completely," complained the Chelsea boss.

Christopher Nkunku, Pedro Neto and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall scored the extra-time goals that saw Chelsea seal a quarterfinal place against Brazilian side Palmeiras.