Chelsea’s Palmer Proves He Is Scary Good In FIFA Club World Cup Final

It’s one thing to be hyped up.

Another to live up to that hype.

Such is the case of Chelsea forward Cole Palmer.

Before the Blues took on Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup Final on Sunday., there were billboards in New York City, championing several impact players.

The Nike advertising campaign called these players “Scary Good.”

Kylian Mbappe.

Erling Haaland

Vinicius Junior.

And Cole Palmer.

Cole, who?

Well, Chelsea supporters know who that 23-year-old impact player is, as do the rest of the Premier League, and likely parts of Europe.

“Yeah, I’ve seen the billboards in Times Square and outside Madison Square Garden,” he said on Sunday. “Yeah, it’s a nice feeling to be obviously alongside them; those type of players.”

Now, the rest of the world has been introduced to Cole Palmer.

If anyone had any doubts, Palmer earned the right to be mentioned with those players. as he wasn’t scary good, but scary excellent, when it counted in Chelsea’s stunning 3-0 victory over heavily favored Paris Saint-Germain.

Actually, Cole Palmer wasn’t scary good. He was scary excellent on Sunday.

Letting his feet do his talking

Palmer is a soft-spoken player who, pardon the cliche, lets his feet do his talking for him.

On Sunday, it was his gifted left foot that spoke loudest for Chelsea. He connected for a brace within a marvelous eight-minute span in the opening half, which helped define the game, while throwing PSG off its game.

Not only did Palmer win player of the match and of the tournament honors with his virtuoso performance on the strength of his brace, he connected twice within an eight-minute span that defined the match. And for good measure, he assisted on the Blues’ third goal in a stunning first half.

“Yeah, to score the goals was, was a great feeling,” he said. “But I think the way the team showed fire out there, and obviously the gaffers’ game plan was, was fine.”

Before the final, Chelsea defender Levi Colwill told the Mirror in England that Palmer was “scary good – to say the least.”

“He’s an amazing player,” he added. “That billboard suits him perfectly well. It’s amazing, seeing him everywhere around New York. It’s surreal and I’m happy for him. I think he’s seen them but you know Cole. He’s not really blown away by much and I think that’s what keeps him going.”

Talking to DAZN and TNT after the match, Colwill reiterated his remarks and added some more superlatives.

“Of course, he’s an amazing player, which everyone knows,” he said. “When he’s not scoring, everyone thinks ah, Cole Palmer is not being himself. No, he’s doing so much more for us. … the things people don’t see is that he’s helping us so much, pulling players towards him.”

Greater expectations?

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca, who said that that he didn’t want to talk about his players, threw some praise Palmer’s way.

“These are the games where we expect Cole to appear, because they are big games, big moments,” he said.

When asked if the world would be looking at him differently when he wakes up on Monday, Palmer replied, “Yeah, I just try and do my job every time I go onto the pitch and hopefully continue.”

Palmer’s stock is expected to rise as well as future expectations, whether it will be leading the Blues to Premier League glory in England or to Champions League titles in Europe this upcoming season. He is a member of the England men’s national team, having worn the jersey 11 times since putting it on for the first time in 2023.

Maresca and his staff put together an impeccable game plan. The execution was near perfect.

He wanted to turn the tables on PSG, which had recorded three 4-0 routs in the tournament, including a shellacking of Real Madrid in the semifinals.

It seemed the entire soccer universe was waiting for the UEFA European Champions League winners to be anointed as Club World Cup champions, except maybe for Chelsea and its loyal supporters.

The Blues pressured PSG from the outset and were relentless, choking out potential attacks and transforming them into Chelsea threats.

“I have no words for the players,” Maresca said. “For me, we won the game in the first 10 minutes. We set the tempo. We knew the way we wanted to play. Today we found a position for Cole, where there was more space to attack. The effort from all the players has been fantastic.”

Close encounters of the Trump kind

Unfortunately, the media was given only four questions to ask Palmer in the postgame press conference. One was about President Trump winding in the middle of Chelsea’s celebrations.

“I knew he was gonna be here, but I didn’t know he was gonna be on the on the stand where we lift the trophy,” he said. “So, I was a bit confused.”

But not confused when push came to shove on the pitch.

Speaking of celebrations, there is a good bet Chelsea partied into the night and then some after not just defeating, but embarrassing what many individuals, including Maresca feel is the best soccer team in the world.

Thanks in part to Cole Palmer, who, whether he likes it or not, is climbing the ladder of global impact players after Sunday’s scary good performance.