You could not go anywhere in New York City over the last week without seeing the Nike advert of Cole Palmer alongside the words: ‘Scary Good.’
Times Square? There’s Cole. The Subway? Oh look, it’s Cole. Yellow Cabs whizzing by? You guessed it, Cole again, and again, and again.
False advertising, it is not. Don’t Paris Saint-Germain know it, too. They were petrified by the scale of Palmer’s savagery here in this one-sided Club World Cup final, with the 23-year-old Englishman scoring two exquisite goals and setting up Joao Pedro for Chelsea‘s third.
PSG are not used to losing so emphatically and embarrassingly. The last time they trailed by three goals at half-time in an international fixture was 1997 and at full-time, heads were lost. Even Luis Enrique – one of the most likeable managers going in the game – struck Chelsea striker Joao Pedro in the face amid the aggro involving PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
It is important not only to win gracefully but when you lose also, and it was to Chelsea’s credit how their young side acted with a maturity beyond their years here. Few gave them a chance but they played it perfectly, with manager Enzo Maresca conjuring a tactical masterclass.
While there was not a single Chelsea player who shirked the work, Palmer’s performance in particular was a privilege to witness, maybe even enough to turn Donald Trump‘s passing interest in ‘soccer’ into something much more serious. The US President was booed when he walked on to the podium afterwards to conduct the trophy ceremony, stood with Chelsea chairman Todd Boehly on one side and FIFA chief Gianni Infantino on the other.
Chelsea celebrated becoming the first winners of the expanded Club World Cup on Sunday
Cole Palmer scored a brace and Joao Pedro also netted as Chelsea won the competition
Joao Pedro found the net for Chelsea with a goal just before half time at the MetLife Stadium
Trump handed Palmer his Golden Ball award and Robert Sanchez his Golden Glove as well as the medals which confirmed Chelsea are world champions. He then helped carry FIFA’s lavish trophy over to the Chelsea team and, amazingly, he stayed stood in the centre of them all on the stage to join in with the lift. According to Palmer, Maresca is making them great again, critics be damned.
‘He is building something special, something important,’ Palmer told us afterwards. ‘Everyone has talked a lot of s*** about us all season but I feel like we are going in the right direction.
‘It’s a great feeling, even better because everyone doubted us before the game. I like finals. It’s happened again (after the Conference League).’
This was supposed to be PSG’s time; their opportunity to go from being the unofficial best team in the world to official. Instead, they now know the hurt they inflicted on Inter Milan in winning the Champions League final 5-0 in May.
Trump can keep his Secret Service agents. Chelsea’s chief protector is Moises Caicedo, and the defensive midfielder started here despite being unable to complete training sessions in the build-up. His inclusion was a boost for the Blues, though we had to wait a while to see him.
FIFA’s pre-match party was all very extra, you see. It involved gold everywhere, an enormous inflatable Club World Cup trophy, F-5 fighter jets flying overhead, fireworks, smoke, a brass band and Robbie Williams in a white tracksuit singing the Club World Cup anthem ‘Desire’.
The famed American ring announcer Michael Buffer then roared ‘let’s get ready to rumble’, though PSG’s players must have misheard him. They thought he said ‘crumble’ as Chelsea took control.
Palmer should have scored within 10 minutes after Joao Pedro’s lovely flicked lay-off, as if inspired after shaking hands with Ronaldo in the warm-up. Palmer’s attempt kissed the post.
It was inevitable that PSG would have their chances, too, and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s cross left Desire Doue with a glorious chance. Instead of scoring himself, however, he tried to cut it back for Achraf Hakimi. Marc Cucurella read it well and cleared.
Palmer scored his second goal of the game in the first half as he helped Chelsea to secure win
Chelsea stars Palmer and Tosin Adarabioyo celebrated after Chelsea were crowned champions
Palmer posed with the golden ball trophy after helping Chelsea to win the tournament
PSG were reduced to ten men late on with Joao Neves pulling on Marc Cucurella’s hair
US President Donald Trump attended the game alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino
Enzo Maresca guided Chelsea to victory with his perfectly-executed tactical plan
Luis Enrique was left frustrated as his Champions League winners ended up being beaten
Enrique clashed with Chelsea star Joao Pedro in heated scenes after the game
Chelsea opened the scoring after 22 minutes when they countered. Malo Gusto tried to score himself but couldn’t. At the second opportunity, he saw fit to set up Palmer. This time, Chelsea’s playmaker passed the ball into the bottom-right corner for 1-0.
It was 2-0 after 30 minutes, courtesy of another magnificent move from Chelsea. The overlap from Joao Pedro was crucial. Palmer used it to fool PSG’s players into thinking he was going to tee him up. It was a decoy which floored Lucas Beraldo and Palmer again found the corner.
After 43 minutes, Palmer turned provider, his pass cutting open PSG’s defence. They were frozen and yet Chelsea’s superstar was colder still as Joao Pedro broke in behind on to it. Donnarumma is a big bloke at 6ft 5in, but Chelsea’s striker lifted the ball over him. It was delicate, deadly and 3-0.
After a half-time show curated by Chris Martin of Coldplay, Dembele seemed destined to score when the ball squirmed to him inside the six-yard box. Sanchez denied him brilliantly.
Liam Delap replaced Joao Pedro and forced Donnarumma into two splendid saves. The first was acrobatic to deny him from 25 yards. The second from close range.
In the 85th minute, referee Alireza Faghani was sent to his monitor. Joao Neves had clearly yanked the hair of Cucurella and was rightly shown a straight red. PSG continued to rage after full-time with Enrique seeming to strike Joao Pedro in the face during an argument.
Chelsea soon went back to celebrating wildly. Rightly so, too. It is not even day that you deliver a victory so exciting that even the US President wants to stay put on the podium to join in with the trophy lift.
