Rafael Benitez admitted Chelsea were outclassed by Corinthians who won their Club World Cup final 1-0 in Yokohama.
The Blues' interim boss insisted his side only had themselves to blame as Corinthians dominated the match and Benitez admitted it seemed to mean more to the Brazilians, whose physical pressing game gave Chelsea very little room for manoeuvre.
"This is the final of the World Cup for the South American teams. You could see this from the first minute," Benitez said.
"Our players have some quality but, physically, some of them aren't so strong."
Some of Corinthians' players also tried every trick in the book to get the referee on side, forward Emerson repeatedly rolling around the floor under contact.
Benitez added: "You could see they have experience and, every second, they were around the referee and doing well - and wasting [time] round near the end.
"I don't say that as a negative. They were 'managing' the game quite well."
Emerson was also at the centre of Gary Cahill's late sending off, which Benitez admitted may have been the correct decision.
"He lost his temper," Benitez said. "I didn't see it in the game, but I've seen it on the replay and it could be a red card."
Fernando Torres missed a sitter for the Blues five minutes from time and when he did find the net with a header he was ruled offside.
Benitez tried to remain upbeat: "Try to find the positives in the situation. He was there. He had the chances. He scored the goal that was disallowed.
"He has to take these chances in a final because it's not easy to create too many. If you have two or three, you have to score."
Corinthians boss Tite questioned Benitez's team changes following Chelsea's semi-final win over Monterrey.
"I was surprised by Benitez," he said. "They were a light team when the previous side was physical."
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The visitors led when Brown was deceived by Iain Davidson's 37th-minute wonder strike but they responded strongly to level through substitute Gary Glen.
County could have even won it when skipper Richard Brittain was put through clean on goal late on only for his shot to clip the outside of the post.
Brown was not complaining afterwards though as his side had to be content with maintaining their six-point gap over Dundee in the relegation place.
"It was a great move but when he (Brittain) hit the post from what I could see I thought Rab Douglas had saved it," the former Celtic goalkeeper said.
"It is just one of those things Richard has had some great performances this season. On another day it would have crept inside the post.
"We had a few chances at the end and we could maybe have sneaked it. But the gap is still the same.
"We have a busy Christmas period - it's just a case of getting the heads down and picking up as many points as we can."
Brown admitted he had been deceived by the flight of the ball for Davidson's opener.
"New modern balls tend to swing in the air and as soon as it left his foot I thought it was going to my right but it swung the other way," he said.
"When it changes direction there is nothing you can do.
"In the first half we played as well as we could but in the second half we lifted the tempo. In the second half we created the better chances."
County confirmed before the match that Brown had signed a new deal to remain at the club until the end of the season.
"I actually signed it earlier in the week, that takes me up to the summer," said Brown, whose initial deal ran to January.
"Nobody likes to be on the sidelines, but as I've said we have a good squad and we have are a lot of boys on the sidelines who are pushing for starting places. I just think that is healthy for competition."
County travel to Brown's former club Celtic next weekend, and he admitted he was looking forward to his return.
"Everybody expects Celtic to win but shocks can happen," he said.
"We will try not to concede early goals - we will try to frustrate them a bit but you never know what will happen."
Dundee striker Colin Nish, who also missed a chance near the end, said: "Ross County could have won it in the last minute when they hit the post but I think they we could have gone 2-0 up.
"It is not a bad result coming here but I think the boys going back in the bus will be disappointed."
He added: "We've done all right recently and I can't see us going on a losing run again. The boys are defending brilliantly we just need to put the ball in the back of the net.
"Myself and the other strikers haven't been doing that in the last few games - hopefully we can get that back.
"I don't think anyone could complain with a draw but as I said if we got that goal to go 2-0 up I think that would have been good enough for us."
Footage from the Premier League encounter at the Britannia Stadium is set to be examined closely by the FA, with the focus on several moments where Toffees midfielder Marouane Fellaini came together with Potters skipper Ryan Shawcross in the hosts' box.
In one incident - seemingly missed by referee Mark Halsey at the time - defender Shawcross was floored by an apparent headbutt from Fellaini, who appears likely to face retrospective action from the FA.
After the game, Everton manager David Moyes condemned his player's actions and said the club would accept any punishment that came their way, while Fellaini apologised to Shawcross, his team-mates and Toffees fans.
Although he said he had "no excuses", the Belgium international did make reference in his apology to "a lot of pushing and pulling going on inside the Stoke penalty area", adding that he did not feel he was getting any protection from the officials.
Distin compared yesterday's events to a penalty Fellaini gave away in the recent 1-1 draw at Manchester City - which Everton thought had been harshly awarded - to higlight what he sees as an inconsistency relating to incidents in the area.
Reflecting on the Stoke match, Distin told evertontv: "It's wrestling, it was tough.
"It was difficult to run through, they just catch you all the time and grab you.
"I think the ref could have a better look at it. But that is football and it's going to happen when you come to a place like Stoke.
"There is just no consistency. That is the problem as a player.
"Sometimes you get grabbed or blocked and it is not a penalty. Then you see what happened against City when the ref gave them a penalty, and you think 'there should be a penalty every week'.
"There is no consistency so it's a bit frustrating when it's not going your way."
The series of episodes involving Fellaini and Shawcross came after Kenwyne Jones' 52nd-minute headed equaliser for a Stoke side who were much improved in the second period from their first-half showing.
Everton, handed the lead in the 36th minute by Shawcross' own-goal, had shaded the contest up to the interval but had squandered some decent opportunities and Moyes was fairly damning in his assessment of team's performance.
The Scot, whose side remained in fourth place after the result, said: "I would probably say that, in my mind, it might have been the poorest we have played this year, although it tells a story that I am disappointed that I am coming to Stoke and drawing 1-1.
"I think if you are talking about how we played football and the style we played in, it was probably the least effective we have been this season."
Stoke boss Tony Pulis, whose team stayed in ninth spot, praised his players' efforts and expressed his delight for striker Jones, selected to start once again ahead of Peter Crouch.
Jones' goal was his first in the top flight since August 2011 and he nearly added another moments later, hitting the post.
Pulis said: "Kenwyne has done smashing. He has had to wait his time and it was a good goal.
"I thought after he scored his goal, the confidence really flowed through him and he caused them lots of trouble.
"He got tired towards the end, but he hasn't played many games and you are going to be like that.
"But it is lovely for him to have scored, I am very pleased for him.
"I'm pleased for the group as well - I thought their attitude in the second half was absolutely fantastic again."
The result means Stoke are unbeaten in seven matches, and have now gone 15 home league fixtures without defeat, stretching back to February.
Pulis said: "It is so vibrant here at the Britannia - the crowd get going and it is almost like a pulse that runs through the players.
"It is a special ground in lots of respects. When we need their help, they have always been there for us."
