Source: team_talk
Rafa Benitez admits Corinthians deserved Club World Cup final
Rafael Benitez admitted Chelsea were outclassed by Corinthians who won their Club World Cup final 1-0 in Yokohama.
The Blues' interim boss insisted his side only had themselves to blame as Corinthians dominated the match and Benitez admitted it seemed to mean more to the Brazilians, whose physical pressing game gave Chelsea very little room for manoeuvre.
"This is the final of the World Cup for the South American teams. You could see this from the first minute," Benitez said.
"Our players have some quality but, physically, some of them aren't so strong."
Some of Corinthians' players also tried every trick in the book to get the referee on side, forward Emerson repeatedly rolling around the floor under contact.
Benitez added: "You could see they have experience and, every second, they were around the referee and doing well - and wasting [time] round near the end. "I don't say that as a negative. They were 'managing' the game quite well."
Emerson was also at the centre of Gary Cahill's late sending off, which Benitez admitted may have been the correct decision.
"He lost his temper," Benitez said. "I didn't see it in the game, but I've seen it on the replay and it could be a red card."
Fernando Torres missed a sitter for the Blues five minutes from time and when he did find the net with a header he was ruled offside. Benitez tried to remain upbeat: "Try to find the positives in the situation. He was there. He had the chances. He scored the goal that was disallowed.
"He has to take these chances in a final because it's not easy to create too many. If you have two or three, you have to score."
Corinthians boss Tite questioned Benitez's team changes following Chelsea's semi-final win over Monterrey.
"I was surprised by Benitez," he said. "They were a light team when the previous side was physical."Don't miss any live and exclusive football coverage this festive season. Click here to visit Sky Sports' Festive Calendar
