Premier League giants Chelsea defeated reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the final of the FIFA Club World Cup as they won the revamped version of the tournament at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on Sunday, July 13. The Club World Cup is Chelsea’s second trophy of the season. In May, The Blues, had won the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The final turned out to be a one-sided affair as Chelsea netted three goals with PSG failing to score even once.
English attacking midfielder Cole Paler scored twice and Brazilian forward João Pedro, who joined Chelsea before the start of the tournament from Brighton, hit the third and the final goal of the match. All three goals came in the first half.
PSG ended the match with 10 men as João Navas was shown a red card in the closing stage of the match. The Protugese midfielder was sent off for pulling Marc Cucurella’s hair.
PSG were outright favourites to win the Club World Cup considering their dominating form this season. The Parisians headed into the tournament on the back of winning UEFA Champions League, Ligue 1, the French Cup and Trophée des champion. However, the Luis Enrique coached-side fell short at the final hurdle of the expanded tournament.
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Before the final, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca had said that he was expecting a “game of chess” against Luis Enrique. In the final Maresca made all the right moves as Chelsea cruised to a thumping win.
The FIFA Club World Cup was revamped for this edition as the number of participating teams increased from seven to 32. To make the tournament lucrative FIFA had also announced a total prize pot of $1 billion.
Before the final FIFA boss Gianni Infantino declared the tournament a success despite several criticisms. The month long-tournament issues ranging from extreme heat, stadiums that were only half full for some matches to players picking up serious injuries.
Former Liverpool manager and the current Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull Jurgen Klopp was one of the most prominent voices critical of the tournament. The German called the tournament “a pointless competition” as he highlighted the huge number of games and lack of recovery times for the players. However Klopp’s views were countered by another eminent personality of world football Arsene Wenger.. The former Arsenal manager called the Club World Cup a “fantastic competition”. Wenger, who now serves as Fifa’s chief of global football development.
Prakhar Sachdeo
The Sportz Planet Desk
