Joao Pedro sends Chelsea into Club World Cup final

Against a legend of old, Chelsea have a new Brazilian to deify.

- WILL CASTLE IN NEW YORK

They are potentially 90 minutes away from becoming world champions, and they have a mid-tournament acquisition to thank.

Fluminense’s journey in the Club World Cup has been nothing short of remarkable. Running on financial fumes, they’ve slayed European giants and Saudi money machines. Thiago Silva, a beloved former Chelsea figure now spending his final footballing days captaining his boyhood club, has been lauded as the heart and soul of their unexpected success. But at the feet of fellow local boy Joao Pedro, Fluminense’s dream of conquering the globe came crashing down.

Joao Pedro, justifying his £60m price tag in his first start, may well be the missing piece to Enzo Maresca’s puzzle. Two stunning goals from the Brazilian propelled the Blues to the final, proving that the much-tried “versatile striker” playstyle - the one the likes of Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku have struggled to master - may in fact have a place in the Italian tactician’s system.

"We know that we have players that are able to do that and we know we have to help them get in situations where they can do that and we know Joao can do this,” Maresca told DAZN.

A Club World Cup semifinal this may have been, even the heightened occasion couldn’t spare the game from the tournament’s recurring problem of empty seats. Attendance was announced as 70,556 - one of the highest of the tournament - but a fair portion of the stands remained unfilled as the players made their American-style individual entrances, with the only jam-packed section of the ground coloured red, green and white behind veteran Fluminense stopper Fabio’s goal. There was no questioning their invigoration for the competition.