The FIFA Club World Cup has come to an end, where 32-team participation concluded with English club Chelsea lifting the trophy. The Blues downed PSG 3-0 in the final, having Cole Palmer scoring twice.
Paris St-Germain won the Ligue 1 title in early April, who also demolished Inter Milan in the Champions League final and seemed to be gliding through the Club World Cup with a wonderful performance too, beating Bayern Munich with nine men and then thrashing Real Madrid 4-0 on their way to Sunday’s final.
From the look of things, Chelsea are looking to be a firmly stable club for the first time since March 2022 after Roman Abramovich left as team owner.
I feel this is a new club that is capable of winning again – and those involved want recognition for their achievements.
“Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernández should be considered among the best midfielders in the world. Marc Cucurella is arguably the best left-back in the Premier League and potentially in the world and the 23-year-old Cole Palmer needs to be put eyes on.
PSG entered the match dreaming of a historic mind but the first 10 minutes with an aggressive approach and high press put by Chelsea made their opponents under unfamiliar stress make the Cole.
Palmer scored the first goal on 22 minutes from a classy left-foot finish from just inside the penalty area after he had been teed up by Malo Gusto. The game went on smoothly psg strongly to equalize, but the reverse was the case as Lucas Beraldo blocked the first effort, but Gusto retrieved the ball and laid into the path of Palmer, who opened up his body and curled it into the bottom of the net. Off he went, holding himself. The shot with which he made it 2-0 eight minutes later was almost identical.PSG at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey were not too classic, as we expected they’d seem to be too weak. A few minutes later, Palmer sent a through pass that allowed João Pedro to chip goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 43d for his third goal.
In the second half, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia immediately tested Blues’ goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, while his close-range save minutes later from Ousmane Dembélé was even more impressive.
Substitute Liam Delap also had a good shot saved as PSG were left with too much of a mountain to climb after missed opportunities by Joao Neves and Desire Doue when the scores were level in the first half.
The game was all but on 85 minutes when matters got worse for the Parisians, as midfielder Neves was sent off after a brief VAR check for pulling defender Marc Cucurella’s hair. After a little playing, the game ended 3-0 in favor of the Blues, making Chelsea win the club World Cup for the second time since 2021.
A brilliant performance in the tournament and magic in the final earned Cole Palmer the second Englishman 🏴to win the Golden Ball at the FIFA Club World Cup after Wayne Rooney in 2008
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Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez was also recognized for his excellent performances, taking home the Golden Glove after keeping three clean sheets.
After the match comments
Joao Pedro: “They’re bad losers. I went to defend my teammate. I was pushed and fell down to the ground.”
Luis Enrique: “I was trying to stop my players from fighting. It was an avoidable situation, I’m sure. There were a lot of pushes.”
Luis Enrique: “Loser? I’m not a loser. I’m a runner-up. There are no losers in top level football. A loser is someone who doesn’t wake up from his bed.”
Luis Enrique: “I don’t care if people like me or not. I have always been like that since I was young. People who know me, really like me. I don’t know if I’m being egocentric, but I can say it without any problems.”
Luis Enrique: “Like I said, I was trying to stop my players. There was a lot of tension, and there was a lot of pushing. It was an avoidable situation, logically. I have nothing else to say.”
Luis Enrique: “I saw Maresca receiving pushes and pushing people too! Clearly our intention was to stop the players!”
Luis Enrique: “My only intention was to stop the players from fighting.”
Enzo Maresca: “I work every day just to improve myself. I try to learn. Every session and game, I just try to do better. It’s been a fantastic season. I am just happy for the players.”
Enzo Maresca: “We won the game in the first 10 minutes. The message before the game was ‘let them understand we are here to win the game’. It set the tone of the game.”
