New Jersey, July 9 (IANS) Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca praised new signing Joao Pedro and expressed satisfaction after his team booked a place in the FIFA Club World Cup final with a 2-0 win over Fluminense on Wednesday (IST).

“The last few years have not been what this club deserves, but this year luckily things went pretty well, and now we are in the final,” said Maresca. “We are very proud to help the team be back where they deserve to be.”

“We are very happy and very proud to be in the final on Sunday because this is the first edition of the (revamped) Club World Cup and the best clubs in the world are here,” the Italian added.

Pedro, making his first start for Chelsea since joining from Brighton & Hove Albion last week, made an immediate impact. The 23-year-old Brazilian striker scored on either side of halftime at MetLife Stadium near New York City, reports Xinhua.

“I am very happy for Joao. He has the quality to decide games like today,” Maresca said. “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.”

Pedro chose not to celebrate out of respect for Fluminense, where he began his professional career.

“They gave me everything when I was young, they helped introduce me to the world, I’m thankful to them, but this is my job now. I feel bad for them, but I have to be a professional,” said Pedro, who was named player of the match.

Fluminense coach Renato Gaucho acknowledged Chelsea’s deserved win but said he was proud of his team’s performance, which ended South America’s hopes in the tournament.

“Fluminense had a remarkable run, and we’ve helped restore some respect for Brazilian football,” said Gaucho. “We defeated some strong teams along the way. Even though we’re out, we leave with our heads held high.”

–IANS

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