Key Takeaways
- Chelsea is through to the Club World Cup finals thanks to the brilliance of João Pedro, who scored a brace in his first start for the Blues.
- RG spoke to Enzo Maresca, Felipe Melo, and Pedro himself about what he can bring to this attack.
- Melo even claimed that the former Brighton man has all that it takes to become Brazil's next No. 9.
Joao Pedro of Chelsea FC celebrates scoring (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
East Rutherford - It has been eight years since Diego Costa departed Chelsea and returned to Atletico Madrid, ending a legendary spell in West London that saw him score 59 goals and 21 assists in 120 appearances. Since then, Chelsea have spent hundreds of millions of pounds on strikers, splurging heavily on the likes of Timo Werner, Romelu Lukaku, Alvaro Morata and Kai Havertz, albeit to little avail. It seemed that Chelsea’s center forward role was a poisoned chalice.
With neither Nicolas Jackson nor Marc Guiu convincing the club hierarchy of their merits, Chelsea decided to sign English striker Liam Delap from recently relegated Ipswich Town for £30 million on June 4, tying him down to a six-year deal. Nearly one month later, Chelsea signed yet another striker from a Premier League side: João Pedro. The Blues acquired him on July 2 for £55m plus £5m add-ons, signing the former Brighton man to an eight-year contract.
“I think it was a childhood dream to play for such a big team and a Champions League team as well,” stated Pedro to RG. “There comes a time where you want to win trophies and titles, and that’s why I came to Chelsea.”
As opposed to Jamie Gittens, who also joined Chelsea midway through the tournament but was unable to play for them after representing Borussia Dortmund in the FIFA Club World Cup, João Pedro was immediately thrown into the side. The Brazilian striker replaced Delap in the 54th minute of their quarterfinal match vs. Palmeiras and gave an impressive account of himself, completing both of his two dribble attempts, registering two key passes, and winning two out of four ground duels en route to a 2-1 win in Philadelphia.
With Delap suspended for the upcoming semifinal vs. Fluminense, Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca had a difficult decision to make: start João Pedro up top, who, prior to Friday’s quarterfinal, had not played a single match since April 19, or start Jackson, who had picked up two red cards in his last four appearances for the Blues.
“I think João can play in all of the attacking positions for us,” stated Maresca to RG prior to the match. “He can play as a winger, a #10, a #9….the difference with Nico is I see him as just a #9 whereas I see João in different positions.”
An Immediate Impact From Pedro
As fate would have it, Maresca ended up making the right call, with Pedro partnering Cole Palmer, Pedro Neto, and Christopher Nkunku in the final third, Moisés Caicedo and Enzo Fernández forming the double pivot, Marc Cucurella, Tosin Adarabioyo, Trevoh Chalobah, and Malo Gusto starting in defense, and Robert Sánchez playing in between the sticks.
The English side broke the deadlock in the 18th minute as Neto’s cross deflected off an opponent and ricocheted into the path of Pedro, who telegraphed a superb, dipping effort into the top-right corner. He refused to celebrate, having played for Fluminense between 2011 and 2019 and made his professional debut for them, but the message is clear: I’m ready to be the starting #9.
Fluminense came roaring back and nearly equalized as Jhon Arias played a quick one-two and fired a powerful shot, only for Cucurella to make a last-ditch goalline clearance. They looked set to equalize from the penalty spot after Chalobah handled a ball in the box, only for it to be waved off after further review. From that point onwards, Chelsea started to build momentum and mount pressure on the Brazilian side, and in the 56th minute, they put the finishing touches on their victory.
After blocking a shot in the box, Chelsea immediately broke on the counter and worked the ball towards Pedro, who, after carefully holding his run, found himself in a 4v2 position on the edge of the box. But rather than trying to filter the pass to one of his onrushing teammates, he instead decided to cut inside and blast a shot off the top post and into the back of the net. When Jackson replaced him four minutes later, he exited the pitch with a raucous standing ovation from the thousands of Blues supporters who made the trek to MetLife Stadium on Tuesday.
Speaking to RG before the match, ex-Brazil international Felipe Melo had immense praise for Pedro:
“In the last game vs. Palmeiras, João Pedro was decisive for Chelsea’s victory. After he came on, everything changed: he managed to hold up the balls that reached him and create opportunities for his teammates, and he even had the chance to score a goal.”
“João Pedro’s entrance totally changed the scenario of the match,” continued Melo, who won his third and final Copa Libertadores title with Fluminense in 2023.
It remains to be seen if Chelsea can pull off an upset for the ages and defeat Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday’s FIFA Club World Cup Final in East Rutherford, but one thing is highly probable: if they are to come away with the victory, João Pedro will have a big role to play.
