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TUESDAY | JULY 15, 2025

Malaysian Paper

What a feeling!

Two-goal hero Palmer says Chelsea silenced doubters with Club World Cup win

Chelsea’s Cole Palmer (centre) and teammates celebrate after the 2025 Club World Cup final against PSG at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey yesterday. – AFPPIC

C OLE PALMER hit back at Chelsea’s critics after fir ing them to Club World Cup glory in New York. The England international scored two fine goals and set up a third for Joao Pedro as the Blues claimed a stunning 3-0 win over Champions League winners Paris St Germain at the MetLife Stadium. Victory, which landed the Blues a jackpot in excess of £90 million (RM522m), was also a tactical tri umph for manager Enzo Maresca. Asked about how the team is developing under the Italian, Palmer told DAZN : “He’s building something special, something important with a young team. “Everyone’s talked a lot of s*** about us all season, but I feel like we’re going in the right direction.” Reflecting on the game, Palmer added: “Obviously it’s a great feel ing, even better because everyone

swatting aside all-comers all sea son, from wrapping up the Ligue 1 title in early April to demolishing Inter Milan in a Champions League final so one-sided it was scarcely believable. They seemed to be breezing through the Club World Cup in similar fashion, too, beating Bayern Munich with nine men and then thrashing Real Madrid 4-0 on their way to yesterday’s final. But, heavily tipped to cruise past Chelsea, this time it was the Parisians who were left stunned. “I’ve never seen PSG turn the ball over as much as they have in this first half,” said former England midfielder Andros Townsend on DAZN . “Full credit to Chelsea for their willingness to track the ball in this New York heat.” Fellow pundit Gareth Bale added: “PSG have been PSG’ed.” – The Independent/Agencies

approach and high press putting their opponents under unfamiliar stress. “The idea was go man-to-man because if you leave spaces to PSG they will kill you, so we tried to be very aggressive and suffocate them early on and that intensity was cru cial in the first 10 minutes,” he added. Once they had asserted their authority, it was then obvious they were keen to target PSG’s left-hand side, as Pedro frequently drifted out wide to pair up with Palmer. Their method was often direct, with passes dropped in behind the PSG defence, but it meant leftback Nuno Mendes was given a torrid time. “We had a lot of success explor ing the left side of their defence,” said Maresca. “Things worked per fectly for us due to the effort the players put.” Paris St-Germain have been

As well as the significant prize money, Chelsea will be entitled to wear a badge on their shirts con firming their status as world cham pions for the next four years. Maresca said: “I think it will become as important as the Champions League and we value it as much as winning the Champions League. “It has been the (best) effort from the team and all the players. I am very happy, especially for them because they deserve the moment. “Had you told me we were going to win 3-0 in the first half I wouldn’t have expected that but we knew we were going to put up a fight and we knew our squad is really competitive against talented teams.” Chelsea had clearly prioritised a fast start in the final, with Maresca saying he thought they “won the game in the first 10 min utes”, with their aggressive

doubted us before the game. “We knew that and to go out there and put a fight on like we did against a great team, yes, it’s good. “The gaffer put a great game plan out. Obviously he knew where the space was going to be and he tried to free me up as much as pos sible, and I just had to repay him and score some goals.” Palmer – whose double and assist all came within the space of 21 first-half minutes – was also the decisive player as Chelsea beat Real Betis in the Europa Conference League final in May. Maresca said: “These are the games where we expect Cole to appear – big games and big moments – and once again he showed how good he is.” The tournament itself has been controversial and derided in many quarters but Maresca is in no doubt of the prestige it will bring the club.

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