CHELSEA CRUISE THROUGH PARALYSED PARIS IN INAUGURAL CLUB WORLD CUP TRIUMPH

On the morning of 14 July (GMT +8), Luis Enrique’s Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) faced a frigid shock, albeit not from the ice bucket challenge, but rather from “Cold” Cole Palmer, whose three goal contributions in the Finals of the inaugural Club World Cup gave PSG the ‘blues’.

Coming into the finals, discourse surrounding the match focused not on which side would win, but rather, what PSG’s victory margin would be. As one armchair commentator on Tiktok humorously posited, “Chelsea, you are getting smacked on Sunday,” expressing no doubt that it would be a thrashing.

After all, PSG has had an exceptional season, picking up every other major trophy possible, including a 5-0 rout over Inter Milan to win the Champions League. Their offence, led by forward Ousmane Dembele, penetrated even the best defences in Europe, with the Frenchman being touted as this year’s Ballon D’or winner. On the other hand, Chelsea’s season could only be described as ‘pretty decent’, winning the UEFA Conference League, the third tier of European competition, and barely securing a spot in the UEFA Champions League on the last Premier League Matchday. Looking at both clubs’ seasons, it was clear that the odds were ever in PSG’s favour.

However, as we all know, anything is possible in football.

In the 22nd minute, Chelsea wingback Malo Gusto floored Nuno Mendes, playing a pass to talisman Cole Palmer, who perfectly slotted the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal to make it 1-0 Chelsea. He celebrated the goal with his signature ‘Cold’ gesture.

Then, almost in a deja vu sequence of events, Palmer received a pass from teammate Levi Colwill, cutting into open space and curling the ball into the same spot as before, away from the outstretched hands of Donnarumma, again celebrating with the ‘Cold’ gesture.

Chelsea, now up 2-0, relentlessly attacked, with midfield maestro Moises Caicedo neutralising the midfield of PSG with his perfectly timed tackles and interceptions.

Chelsea would find their break again when Cole Palmer, again, played a precise pass to new signing Joao Pedro, who slotted it past a rushing Donnarumma. Pedro, who arrived in West London barely a week ago, has had the perfect start to Chelsea life, scoring 3 goals in the first 2 games he started in.

As the first half ended, it was a scoreline nobody had anticipated. 3-0 Chelsea.

As the second half started, PSG were rejuvenated, with Dembele, Vitinha and Doue all having attempts at goal. However, Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez displayed what many now call the performance of his career, pulling off 6 saves from various distances to keep a clean sheet. In one instance, he parried away Dembele’s shot from almost point blank range.

As PSG became increasingly worn down by Chelsea’s defence, they grew increasingly frustrated. The 85th minute saw PSG midfielder Joao Neves pull on the hair of Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella, prompting referee Alireza Faghani to escalate the initial yellow card to a red card for violent conduct after consulting with the Video Assistant Referee. With Neves being given his marching orders, PSG were now all but defeated.

As the Final whistle blew, the MetLife Stadium erupted in cheers as Chelsea were crowned as World Champions, becoming the first club in history to win every possible international trophy in football.

In addition, Palmer won the Golden Ball Award for his stellar performances, with Sanchez being awarded the Golden Glove for top goalkeeping.

In a peculiar incident during the trophy presentation, US president Donald Trump seemingly thought himself a part of the winning team, joining Chelsea in the trophy lifting, inviting booes from the crowd.

As Chelsea pick up their second trophy this season, they seem to be a dangerous foe to face next season. With an in-form Cole Palmer, stalwarts in Reece James and Caicedo, and a sensation like Joao Pedro, Chelsea is poised for a return to title contention in the Premier League.

Indubitably, other English clubs have spent this summer bolstering their squad with new signings, most notably Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz joining reigning champions Liverpool. Next season will certainly be no less difficult for Chelsea.

But for now, the sky is blue.