Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca greeted Joao Pedro and expressed his pleasure to reach the club’s World Cup final after the double hitting of the new signature secured a 2-0 win over Flinense in the last four on Tuesday.

“We are very happy and very proud to be in the finals on Sunday because this is the first publication of the Club World Cup and the best clubs in the world are here,“Said Marsis.

Joao Pedro It has been starting for the first time since it arrived from Brighton and Hove Albion for a 60m -reported ($ 79 million) last week, fresh from an out -of -season break.

The Brazilian made an immediate impact on the game In Metlife Stadium just outside New York.

He produced two fine endings, both sides of half time, to get Chelsea through Sunday’s final against Paris Saint-Germain or Real Madrid.

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“I am very happy for Joao. He has the quality of putting games like today, but he too was on vacation, so he is probably a little cooler compared to the rest,“Maresca told the 23-year-old.

“We knew what Joao was. We introduced it because this season we faced many teams with low blocks and its quality is very good against these types of teams“

The striker did not celebrate his goals for respecting the club by Rio De Janeiro, with whom he began his career before moving to England with Watford in 2020.

“When I was young they gave me everything they showed me the world,“He said after gathering his award for the player of the match.

“If I’m here now is because they believed in me, so I’m very grateful but this is football, I have to be a professional. I’m sorry for them but I have to do my job“

Chelsea’s running in the final of the lucrative competition comes at the end of a season in which Chelsea ended the fourth in the Premier League to provide a return to the UEFA Champions League. They also won the Conference League.

“In recent years there have been what this club deserves, but this year luckily things went well and now we are in the finals“The Italian said.

“We are very proud to help the team return to where they deserve to be.“

A possible issue for Chelsea ahead of the finals is the fitness of Midfield Lynchpin Moises Caacedowho left the wounded deep at the time of detention at the end of the match.

“”Moi ‘twisted the ankle. When it happened I told him we could play with 10 players and hopefully it does not deteriorate,“Maresca said.

“He felt he could try (play further) he did and he felt pain. Hopefully he may be capable of Sunday.“

Meanwhile, Fluminenian coach Renato Portaluppi He was disappointed with the emergence of his team while the hopes of South America to win the competition came to an end.

However, he said they had “regained credibility” for Brazilian football with their semifinal candidacy.

“Fluminense campaign was great. I think we all felt this. We overcome some great opponents“Said the 62-year-old.

“Chelsea deserved the victory, but I’m very proud of everything we did. We go out with our heads held up.“