Pedro Neto has admitted Flamengo showed more “desire” than Chelsea in Friday’s Club World Cup defeat but insisted he would still rather be playing at the tournament than lying on a beach.
Neto scored his second goal in two matches but it was not enough to avoid defeat as Bruno Henrique equalised before Danilo gave the Brazilians the lead and Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson was sent off in six minutes of second-half madness at Lincoln Financial Field.
Wallace Yan added a late third to ensure Flamengo top Group D and leave Chelsea needing to beat Tunisian side Esperance Sportive de Tunis on Tuesday to reach the round of 16.
“What went wrong was the second half, to be honest in the first half maybe they had more control of the ball but we could create the chances more than them,” Neto said.
“And when we went to the second half we tried to press a little bit higher. We started well in the second half but what made the difference was a little bit the desire and they had more desire than us to win the game. And after the red card as well the game was I think finished.”
Asked if he would prefer to be at the Club World Cup rather than lie on the beach, Neto replied: “100 percent sure. “We have to be thankful. We are here playing this tournament. There would be a lot of players that would love to be in my place and in the other place. We have to enjoy it.”
Defender Marc Cucurella said the South American teams have a different “momentum” at the tournament with Boca Juniors’ 2-1 defeat to Bayern Munich the first time a Brazilian or Argentine side has lost in 10 games since the competition began.
“I think the Premier League is the best league in the world but it’s true that it can be very different from one team to another and it’s not only this game, you can see the other results and the momentum they have is different to European teams,” Cucurella said.
“The conditions are not the same as well for European teams and it’s not an excuse, it’s a reality and it’s one of the reasons.
“They have a lot of talent but if we play in another moment then we can maybe beat them. Maybe now is the moment to lose and if you are going to lose then it’s now and if we go through that is the moment to show our qualities.”
