Photo credit: Mark Szczuka
The Champions of Europe followed up their narrow 1-0 defeat of Asian Champions Al Hilal in the semi-final with a similarly narrow 2-1 victory over South American Champions Palmeiras to win their first-ever Club World Cup.
Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku headed home for the English side early in the second half to give them the lead, however, that advantage was short-lived as the Brazilian side levelled less than 10 minutes later with Raphael Veiga converting a penalty following Thiago Silva’s handball.
The match looked destined to be decided by a penalty shootout until another penalty was awarded for handball, this time for Chelsea. Kai Havertz stepped up to score the decisive winner for the Blues with three minutes of extra-time to go.
It was the ninth consecutive time the UEFA Champions League winners lifted the FIFA Club World Cup. The last non-European victory came when Palmeiras’ Sao Paolo neighbours Corinthians defeated Chelsea 1-0 in Japan in December 2012.
However, despite Europe’s dominance in the tournament over the past decade, the popularity of the tournament is far higher in South America than in Europe.
This was highlighted by the fact that well over 10,000 Brazilian fans took the 15-hour flight from Brazil’s largest city to support their side compared to less than 3,000 Chelsea fans who had travelled half the distance from England.
As a further indication of how much the defeat meant to Palmeiras, riots broke out in Sao Paolo immediately following the match with one Palmeiras fan being shot dead outside their stadium where fans had gathered to watch the final on large TV screens.
Chelsea have little time to reflect on being able to hail themselves as newly crowned World Champions as the Club World Cup Final is the first of five matches in a row in different competitions. Up next is Crystal Palace away in the Premier League followed by a Round of 16 Champions League tie at home to Lille before two further domestic cup ties against Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Final and an away trip to Luton Town in the FA Cup.
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