Chelsea defender Levi Colwill has claimed that the Club World Cup will be bigger than the Champions League after his side beat Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) 3-0 in the final in New Jersey on Sunday, July 13. A brace from Cole Palmer and a goal from Joao Pedro in the first 45 minutes were enough to see the Blues become the first winners of the first edition of FIFA’s revamped club competition.
After the match, Colwill was asked whether Chelsea can build on that success to win the Premier League or Champions League, to which he responded (via BBC):
"Yeah, definitely. I said at the start of this tournament that our plan is to win it and people looked at me as if I was crazy. So I'm going to say the exact same thing now going into the Premier League and Champions League.
"This is the biggest trophy I've ever won. I think the Club World Cup will be bigger than the Champions League and we were the first team to win it. It was a statement victory and, in the future, if we keep winning trophies then everyone will give us the love that we deserve. But we'll only know that in the future. I think we're ready, and we'll see next season."
He added:
"We're a team, and that's in the Chelsea identity. You stick together no matter what. I think players like John Terry, Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, they started that, and we're carrying it on," he said. They were all amazing players, the best players who won a lot, but we've got the best players in our team - young players for sure - and that's our plan: to win the biggest trophies for Chelsea. We're definitely capable of doing it. I think we've shown that. Everyone said that PSG were the best team in the world but we won 3-0."
Colwill, 22, played the entirety of Sunday’s final in New Jersey. He assisted Palmer for Chelsea’s second goal. The Club World Cup is the second trophy Chelsea have won this year after they won the Conference League in May.
Robert Sanchez says Chelsea teammate is ‘the best in the world’ after Club World Cup win
Goalkeeper Robert Sanchez hailed Cole Palmer for his heroics during their Club World Cup final match against PSG. The 23-year-old produced a man-of-the-match performance, scoring two goals and providing one assist.
Speaking after the match, Sanchez told FIFA of Palmer’s performance:
“Cole Palmer is the best in the world. If he’s not the best now, he’s going to be in the next two to three years. He’s a top player. He shows it in all the matches. What he does is magic. When he gets chances, he takes them. Today he scored two goals, almost a hat-trick. Impressive.”
Apart from Robert Sanchez, other Blues teammates also lauded Palmer’s performance. In addition to winning the 'Player of the Match' award in the final, Palmer was also named the 'Player of the Tournament' at the FIFA Club World Cup.