Cole Palmer said that Enzo Maresca is building something special after Chelsea produced a stunning performance to beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the first final of Fifa’s expanded Club World Cup.
Palmer was in astonishing form at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, scoring two brilliant goals and setting up João Pedro to make it 3-0 by half‑time. Chelsea were underdogs going into their clash with the European champions but they were set up brilliantly by Maresca, whose young side will go into next season with incredible belief after being crowned world champions.
“He is building something special, something important,” Palmer said of Chelsea’s head coach. “Everyone has talked a lot about us all season but I feel like we are going in the right direction.”
Chelsea have spent more than £1bn on signings since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital bought the club three years ago. It has been a slow process but there are growing signs that their youth-driven recruitment is working. In Maresca’s first season in charge Chelsea have qualified for the Champions League, won the Conference League and dominated PSG in a major final.
“It’s a great feeling,” Palmer said. “Even better because everyone doubted us before the game, we knew that. To put a fight on like we did, it’s good. The gaffer put a great gameplan out. He knew where the space was going to be. He tried to free me up as much as possible and I just had to repay him and score some goals.”
Palmer features alongside Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius Júnior on billboards in New York. “I’ve seen the billboards in Times Square and outside Madison Square Garden,” he said. “It’s a nice feeling to be alongside those type of players.”
Maresca was delighted with Palmer. “These are the games where we expect Cole to appear,” he said. “Big games and big moments and once again he showed how good he is.”
Chelsea, who have made around £90m from their time in the US, will have three weeks off before returning to training in the lead-up to the new season. They open their Premier League campaign by hosting Crystal Palace on 17 August. “Of course I am very excited [about the future],” Maresca said. “But I’m more excited that we have three weeks off.”
Reece James lifts the trophy alongside his Chelsea teammates. Photograph: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Maresca hailed his young side for carrying out the plan to perfection. “I have no words for the players,” the Italian said. “They all deserve this and it’s a good moment. We won the game in the first 10 minutes. We set the tempo and we were very good at pressing them. The conditions made it hard to keep going but the boys did well.”
There was praise for Palmer, who shone in a right-sided role, but Maresca focused on the whole team. “ Today we found a position for him where there was more space to attack,” he said. “Obviously Cole played really well but the effort from all the players was fantastic.”
Donald Trump looks over the golden glove with the Fifa president Gianni Infantino after the Club World Cup final. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Maresca did not downplay Chelsea’s achievement in becoming world champions. “I think it will become as important as the Champions League and we value it as much as winning the Champions League,” he said.
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President Trump was jeered by the crowd on more than one occasion when he came on to the pitch for the trophy ceremony. Trump, who appeared next to Boehly and Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, ignored the boos and remained front and centre with Chelsea’s players as they lifted the trophy.
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“I knew he was going to be here but I didn’t know he was going to be on the stand when we lifted the trophy,” Palmer said. “I was a bit confused.”
There was a major security operation outside the ground before the match. Secret Service officials were present in the surrounding areas because of Trump attending the game and bag checks were conducted by Transport Security Administration officials.
PSG were stunned by Chelsea and lost their cool towards the end. João Neves was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair and Luis Enrique, the Ligue 1 side’s manager, may face disciplinary action after appearing to push João Pedro in the face.
Luis Enrique defended himself by saying he was trying to separate players after a brawl broke out at full time. “I have no problem expressing my feeling at the end of the game in a high level of pressure,” he said. “It’s very stressful for all of us. It is going to be impossible to avoid. Everybody was involved. It was not what was best and the end result of the pressure of the match.
“I have seen Maresca. I saw he had pushed others and we had to separate all the players and I do not know where that pressure came from. But this is a situation we must all avoid. My intention is that I wanted to separate the footballers so the situation didn’t become worse.”
Maresca said: “After the final whistle I approached Luis to talk to him and I saw that something was going on but I don’t know what happened really.”
