Chelsea's 19-year-old striker scored twice as Chelsea beat First Division Gillingham 2-1 to cruise into the fourth round of the Worthington Cup. 
Then Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri put Cole, who was making his first start of the season after suffering a hairline crack of a leg in August, on a par with Everton's 17-year-old wonder boy Wayne Rooney.
"They are two fantastic young players," he said.
"Carlton is one of the best young players in England. He must improve, but his quality is very good. He can do anything; he has lots of skill."
Cole showed the coolness of a natural striker by taking the ball around Gillingham goalkeeper Jason Brown in the 20th minute for his first and then demonstrated his heading ability for the second after 62 minutes.
Ranieri then immediately substituted him for Jesper Gronkjaer.
"I took him off because he has just come back from injury and I was worried about him," explained the manager.
Ranieri insists his club are determined to go one better in the competition than last year when they lost out to Tottenham in the semi-finals.
He proved that intent by fielding an almost full-strength side, with just four changes from the side which battled for a goalless draw against Tottenham on Sunday.
"I don't know if other clubs take the competition seriously or not - but for us every match is important," said Ranieri.
"We want to take them all seriously. In every country there are the same little teams who want to cause a surprise. That's what Gillingham wanted to do.
"Last season we lost in the semi-final, and here we want to improve always and go better."