Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi lifted the lid on what it felt like to lift the FIFA Club World Cup on Saturday. Hudson-Odoi started the final against Brazilian side Palmeiras and it was his cross to Romelu Lukaku which set up the Blues’ opener.
Callum Hudson Odoi said: “It’s craz. I think I’ve said it from the start, it’s an amazing feeling to know you have the opportunity to play in such big competitions anyway, but to have the opportunity to win them as well, the feeling like that, I don’t know how you can describe it. Especially when it’s something for the first time for the club. I think every one of the players deserves a lot of credit, they did really well and they deserve it. Hopefully we keep creating more history for the club and win as much as possible.”
Hudson-Odoi’s pinpoint cross from the left flank found Lukaku’s head, who powered the ball into the back of the net to give Tuchel’s side the lead. The 21-year-old opened up on his relationship with the Belgian striker and the work the pair do on the training ground which led to Saturday’s opening goal.
Callum Hudson Odoi added: “We try to link up as much as possible. I think whether it’s in training or games we try our best to see each other’s strengths and what we try to implement in our games. We know that Rom sometimes likes it to feet, he likes it in behind, he likes it in the air. So at that moment when I saw him with the ball I thought: ‘You know what, I know Rom, if I get this cross perfect he’s going to score it.’ So as soon as I got it in there I said to myself: ‘Yeah, it’s a goal.’ As soon as it went in my head was just going crazy. But we combine a lot in training and obviously in games we’ve been trying to as much as possible. Sometimes it doesn’t work, sometimes it does, but at the end of the day you’ve just got to be positive, just keep going and trying to push as much as possible. So that’s what we try to do, keep trying to combine and hopefully he’ll get more chances and score more goals.”