Palmeiras bumped into Chelsea once again in their attempt to win a world title. This Friday (4), the alviverde team lost to the English formation 2-1, with a goal against the end of the game, and said goodbye in the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup, played in the United States.
At Lincoln Financial Field, in Philadelphia, against an audience of 65,872 people, the British team opened the scoring with Palmer, in the first half, the Brazilian team drew shortly after the break, with Stephen – negotiated with Chelsea himself, with a presentation scheduled for the next few days – but, in the final minutes, Giay deflected against his own network (Officially, the goal against was credited to goalkeeper Weverton, who slightly deflected the ball).
It was the second time the Chelsea barked Palmeiras. In 2021, in the decision of the former Club World Cup, recently renamed FIFA (International Football Federation) as Intercontinental Cup, the English also won 2-1 and first won the title in their history.
The blue team will face another Brazilian in the semifinal, Fluminense, next Tuesday (8), at 16h (Brasília).
As in the duel between the Rio team and al Hilal, earlier, the confrontation between the English team and the Brazilian was preceded by honors to Portuguese players Diogo Jota and André Silva, who died in a car accident in Spain last Thursday (3).
There was doubt if Chelsea would take the Portuguese striker Pedro Neto to the field, who was very shaken by the death of his compatriots. Neto and Jota were part of the cast that won the League of Nations by the Portuguese team in June. Shirt 7, however, participated in the duel. He entered the field carrying shirts with the names of Diogo and André Jota. Before the ball rolled, a minute of silence was respected in honor of the victims.
When the confrontation began, Chelsea took control and had the dominion of the first half, but took advantage only once the spaces constantly left by the defense Alviverde. At 16 minutes, Palmer received at the entrance of the area, wiped two markers and crashed to make 1-0.
A weak Vanderlan’s head finish, already 41 minutes, was the best chance alviverde before the break. After the break, however, the Brazilian team returned differently.
Palmeiras sought the attack from the beginning and, at eight minutes, managed to reach the draw, with a great goal of Stephen.
The young star received Allan’s pass in the large area, cleared Colwill and finished strong. The ball still hit the crossbar before entering. Future coach of Stephen, Enzo Maresca led his hands to his head with the space that his defense offered to reinforce.
The young promise was sold to the London club in June 2024, for 61.5 million euros (R $ 392.7 million). The World Cup dispute marks his farewell of the team that revealed him. Shortly after the first phase dispute, the athlete admitted that it has been difficult to focus on Palmeiras knowing that he will soon defend the blue formation.
This is not the first time players have seen their future clubs shortly before an impact transfer. A very remembered case is that of Neymar, who, still playing by Santos, defended the São Paulo team in the 2011 Club World Cup final against Barcelona, just before joining Messi and company. The Brazilian team was defeated 4-0.
Although Palmeiras was not dominated by Chelsea as Santos went to Barcelona at that time, Stephen also said goodbye to a bitter taste.
At 38 minutes, with the balanced duel, the English team reached the second goal, when Gusto crossed from the left. The ball, diverted in Giay, was not blocked by Weverton: 2 to 1.
The outcome of the match has renewed the provocations that usually fall on Palmeiras whenever the team stumbles in an attempt to win the intercontinental title. Although much of the Alviverde fans see the conquest of the 1951 Rio Cup as a historic and enormous feat, this was never enough to contain the adversaries, especially because the trophy is not recognized by FIFA as a world title.
Failure in the US was the fourth attempt Alviverde. Prior to the two setbacks against Chelsea, the club had opportunities in 1999 and 2020. In the first, the title dream ended after a fault of goalkeeper Marcos, then Palmeirense idol, against Manchester United. Already in the 2020 World Cup, played at Qatar, Palmeiras embittered the worst campaign of a South American club in the history of the tournament, suffering defeats for Tigers, Mexico, and Al Ahly, from Egypt.
