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Football

Chelsea Wins Their First FIFA Club World Cup Thanks to Late Penalty

This year’s FIFA Club World Cup final was one for the books, and the winner was tough to call as the game entered extra time. Chelsea fought a hard battle to score their very first victory at this tournament, defeating the Brazilian club Palmeiras 2-1. After a goalless first half, Romelu Lukaku finally opened the scoring with an impressive header for Chelsea. It didn’t take long for Palmeiras to even out the score, and Raphael Veiga helped them make a comeback with a penalty shot ten minutes later. As the game proceeded, it was pretty clear that the winner will be determined in extra time. Almost half an hour later, a penalty shoot-out was looming on the horizon, and Kai Havertz finally scored a winning penalty for Chelsea 117 minutes into the game. Chelsea’s manager Thomas Tuchel believes that the penalty win doesn’t minimize the team’s success because they were on the top of their game from the very start. "In the end, if you score late you need the luck to do it but we were relentless and we did not stop trying. We did not give in. We had the lead then lost it but never stopped. It was deserved but also lucky when you score late,” Thomas Tuchel told Channel 4.