How Chelsea Star Tricked Palmeiras Players Into Thinking He Would Take Decisive Penalty

How Chelsea Star Tricked Palmeiras Players Into Thinking He Would Take Decisive Penalty

Isaac Darko
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:55 PM
  • Spanish defender Cesar Azpilicueta fooled Palmeiras players into thinking he would take decisive Chelsea penalty
  • In the build-up to Kai Havertz converting the winning spot-kick, the role captain Cesar Azpilicueta performed shouldn't go unnoticed
  • Chelsea clinched the FIFA Club World Cup after beating Palmeiras 2-1 after extra time on Saturday evening.

Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta played a leader’s role prior to Kai Havertz's extra time winner in the Club World Cup final.

How Chelsea star tricked Palmeiras players into thinking he would take decisive penalty
Cesar Azpilicueta helped take the pressure off Kai Havertz before the Germany international scored Chelsea’s winning goal. Picture by Guiseppe Cacace
Source: Getty Images

The Blues took the lead through Romelu Lukaku's bullet header but Cavalcante Veiga equalised from the penalty spot following Thiago Silva’s handball offence.

The game went to extra time and Chelsea rewarded with a penalty following another handball incident.

Azpilicueta showed an incredible level of footballing intelligence by holding onto the ball for a lengthy amount of time and essentially made Palmeiras think that he was going to take the penalty.

And just before the referee signalled for the spot-kick to be taken, he gave it to Havertz who made no mistake by sending the goalkeeper the wrong way to clinch victory.

After the game, Azpilicueta disclosed that it was in fact a tactic because he "knew what they were like" and wanted to take some of the pressure off Havertz.

German star Havertz was the decisive player after he scored the lone goal in Chelsea's UEFA Champions League final against Manchester City.

Chelsea wins Club World Cup

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Chelsea won the Club World Cup for the first time ever, as Kai Havertz scored in injury time to secure a win over Brazilian outfit Palmeiras on Saturday, February 12.

In a close-knit encounter in Abu Dhabi, the Blues needed to dig deep to defeat a classy Palmeiras side, who pegged them back in normal time after Lukaku had put the European winners in the lead with a header.

Similar to their semi-final victory over Al-Hilal, the Blues were thoroughly dominant in possession, and Palmeiras players were at times fine with sitting back and absorbing the pressure from the European champions.

Authors
Isaac Darko photo
Isaac Darko
Isaac Darko is a La Liga, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga editor at Sports Brief with a Degree in Journalism and Communications from Ghana Institute of Journalism (2010)