EAST RUTHERFORD: “Ice-Cole” Palmer lived up to his nickname in a scorching Club World Cup final on Sunday, scoring twice in Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Paris St Germain on another broiling day at MetLife Stadium.

Temperatures soared above 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29.4 degrees Celsius) 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 England international therefore lived up to his superstar billing — his face has appeared on billboards around New York advertising the tournament, alongside the likes of Real Madrid duo Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior.

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.

“To score the goals was a great feeling, as was the way the team showed fire out there — the gaffer’s game plan was spot on,” he said. “I just try to do my job every time I go onto the pitch and hopefully I will continue.

“It’s a great feeling. Even better because everyone doubted us before the game, we knew that. To put a fight on like we did, it’s good. I have seen the billboards in Times Square and outside Madison Square Garden and it is obviously a nice feeling to be alongside those players.”

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 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 the 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.

“These are the games we expect Cole Palmer to appear and once again he showed what he is made of,” Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca told a press conference. “Today we found a position for him where there was more space to attack. Obviously Cole played really well but the effort from all the players was fantastic.

Maresca revealed his tactical masterplan had worked to perfection, with Chelsea pressing PSG high and exploiting direct plays behind their rivals’ defense to devastating effect, with their high-intensity approach proving decisive in the sweltering New Jersey conditions.

He insisted winning the Club World Cup meant as much as winning the Champions League, saying he thinks it will be seen much differently in the future.

“I feel that this competition [the Club World Cup] will be as important as or even more important than the Champions League,” Maresca said.

“I was lucky enough to be part of a coaching staff [at Manchester City] that won the Champions League three years ago, but this competition [the Club World Cup] features the best clubs in the world.

“That’s why we value it as much as the Champions League, or perhaps even more. For us, it was a great triumph. Allowing Chelsea fans to wear that world champion patch on their shirts is a source of pride for us.”

POST-MATCH SCUFFLE

Defeat for PSG denied them what would have been a stunning clean sweep of trophies as they failed to add the Club World Cup to the Champions League and French league and cup double they claimed in May.

Fans expected much more from the European champions that had once appeared unstoppable, cruising past Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-final stage of the expanded, 32-team tournament.

They finished the match with 10 men after Joao Neves was shown a red card in the 85th minute for violent conduct.

Following Chelsea’s dominating win, PSG coach Luis Enrique shoved Joao Pedro in a near brawl between players and coaching staff.

The incident erupted when PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was arguing with Joao Pedro, before Luis Enrique appeared to raise his hands to the Brazilian’s face.

Joao Pedro hit the deck and the PSG

manager was quietly escorted away in remarkable scenes that saw players from both sides clash.

“At the end of the match, there was a situation that I believe could have been avoided by everyone,” Luis Enrique said at a press conference after the match. “My objective and my intention, as always, is to try to win over the players so that there are no more problems. Internally, there is a lot of tension, a lot of pressure.”

The Spanish coach acknowledged the severity of the incident, adding: “And from there, there is a series of shoves from a lot of people, which I think we should all avoid and which should not happen again.”

When it came to the match, however, he was left without answers after a brutal thrashing by Chelsea in a clash of European football’s most powerful and richest clubs.

“Football — that’s the way it is. Can’t explain everything,” said Luis Enrique. “I believe they actually started the game really, really well with a lot of pressure and we gave them a hard time. And then after that I believe they had opportunities to score but it didn’t happen.”

A historic season for PSG ends after 11 months and 65 matches, and they now have exactly one month before returning to action in August

— there will be another trophy on the line in their next game, against Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Super Cup.

“I think is important for us to enjoy our holidays. They will be very short. But we need to make the most of them,” he said.

PSG’s victory in this year’s Champions League also means they will have another crack at winning the Club World Cup when they participate in the next edition, which is due to take place in 2029.

“I think this tournament was born out of the need to know who the best team in the world is. I think it is an interesting format and I think it could become a real top-level competition,” said the Spaniard. “There is just the difficulty of finding space for it in the current calendar, but I think it is an interesting tournament — we had the chance to win it but there was another team who were better than us in the final.”

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2025