Chelsea's ice man Palmer puts the chill on PSG in Club World Cup final
Temperatures soared above 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4°C) in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but the Chelsea talisman had ice in his veins as he bagged two goals in eight minutes in the first half.
He earned the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament.
The man of the match in their 4-1 Conference League final win over Real Betis in May, Palmer showed again that he does his best work under the biggest spotlight, as he also recorded an assist for Joao Pedro in the 43rd minute.
"I like finals. It's happened again," he told DAZN.
"It's a great feeling," he added. "Even better because everyone doubted us before the game, we knew that. To put a fight on like we did, it's good."
A product of the Manchester City academy, Palmer made his senior debut with the team in September 2020 but never received the minutes on the pitch he believed he deserved, going to Chelsea three years later with the promise of more playing time.
He wasted no time becoming Chelsea's new hero, firing in goals in his first season with the club, and Sunday's final marked another chapter in his success story, with Man City long ago eliminated from the tournament in the round of 16.
He destroyed PSG's defence in a sensational first half on Sunday, running up and down the right channel before slotting in a tidy left-footed goal in 22nd minute.
He doubled the score eight minutes later, again targeting the bottom-left corner of the goal as the legions of blue-clad Chelsea fans erupted in elation.
European and French champions PSG were coming off an extraordinary season but appeared overwhelmed yet again as Palmer set up Pedro with a neat flick with two minutes left in the first half.
"Today we found a position for him where there was more space to attack," said Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca. "Obviously Cole played really well but the effort from all the players was fantastic."
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Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
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4 hours ago
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Europe provided both finalists but did not have things all its own way, with Fluminense of Brazil flying the flag for the rest of the world. They knocked out Inter Milan en route to reaching the semi-finals, while fellow Brazilians Palmeiras got to the last eight along with Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal. The majority of the tournament's huge US$1 billion (S$1.28 billion) prize fund still went to European teams, but the money distributed to competing clubs from around the world could give them a better chance of keeping their best players for longer. Infantino accepts that his tournament would be a greater draw if more of Europe's biggest names were involved but insists it will remain open to clubs from around the globe – even if that means mismatches like Auckland City losing 10-0 to Bayern Munich. 'Auckland represents to some extent 99.9 per cent of all players, who would like to be like them but will never have the chance – there must be a place for everyone,' he said. 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