Wake-up call for FIFA after Reece lightning worries

REECE JAMES says he feared Chelsea's marathon Club World Cup tie with Benfica would never finish.

- JOHN CROSS

The last-16 clash turned into a farce when it was delayed for almost two hours because of lightning storms and a severe weather warning, eventually taking 4hrs 38mins to complete from kick-off.

Skipper James said: “It was in the back of my mind there was a chance the game was not going to get completed. It was quite disruptive.

“We got to 85 minutes and then had to sit and wait.

“It was difficult. The climate was very hot and humid.”

It is the sixth Club World Cup match to be held up by the weather and the fourth time a game has been delayed by more than an hour.