Richards: The celebrations are still ongoing!

First-team

12 Jun 2025

Chris Richards says he and his Crystal Palace teammates are still flying high from their remarkable FA Cup Final victory last month.

The centre-back was speaking to CBS Sports whilst on international duty with the United States who – following two friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland, with Richards captain in the former – are now preparing to co-host the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup, which kicks off this weekend.

The seven-time tournament winners, whose squad also includes Palace loanee Matt Turner, kick off their group-stage campaign against Trinidad & Tobago in San Jose on Sunday night.

But Richards, speaking to CBS Sports, was first of all asked about Palace’s history-making achievements under the Wembley Stadium arch last month.

The 25-year-old beamed: “It was amazing, you know, bringing a first trophy to Crystal Palace.

“It was an amazing feeling, seeing people in the crowds emotional, crying, and seeing generations of Palace fans in the stands, knowing that they hadn't won anything before. Being able to bring that trophy back to South London was amazing.

“I saw a guy in a Flash costume running around South London with like a Palace flag on his back – I thought that was pretty interesting! Also, I saw somebody getting [Ebere] Eze as a tattoo – that’s dedication, that was pretty high up there as well!

“I mean, we pretty much celebrated until pretty much until Sunday when I got here – that was the last day of celebration! It was a good two weeks.”

On the game itself – settled by Eze’s early first-half goal, Dean Henderson’s incredible goalkeeping display, and a resilient defensive performance across the team – Richards smiled: “A few weeks before we’d played City and we scored two pretty early on, and I think we got a little too comfortable, so we really wanted to change that in the Final.

“We scored early and we decided that it was just the time to get even more serious and just to continue playing our game.

“As a defender, you really don't want your goalie to have to make that many saves! But when your goalie can make that many saves, it gives you a lot of confidence.

"For us, it was an amazing game from front to back – and it was a deserved win.”

Richards was also asked how difficult [Erling] Haaland – City’s prolific striker, who he helped shut out in the Final – ranks against the other strikers he has played against in world football.

The defender noted: “Haaland's definitely on the list! I’d also probably say [Bryan] Mbeumo and [Yoane] Wissa from Brentford – they’re also a pretty good attacking duo.

“Even though I play against this guy every day [in training], JP Mateta! He’s a joke, you know, he's really strong, really fast and knows how to use his body, so I understand why people hate playing against him.”

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