‘I was there’ moment for fans as PSG end 2015 on victorious note

The football was always going to be a footnote. This was about the spectators getting to see their football stars in action. This was about two world football powerhouses showcasing their skills for the people in Qatar. And the 11,628 fans who turned up at the Al Sadd Stadium to witness the friendly match between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan will have gone home a happier bunch. For the record, PSG won the match 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from Jean-Kevin  Augustin. This result meant that PSG were overall winners of the two-match friendly series between these two teams. The first leg, which was played in Marrakesh last December, too had ended with a similar score line. PSG definitely walk away with the bragging rights but in friendly matches the score doesn’t really matter. It’s like the show – Whose Line Is It Anyway, where the points don’t matter. What mattered, for the teams, is that they were able to test their mettle against another big European team. PSG have a crucial Champions League tie against Chelsea coming up while Inter were looking to sharpen for the second half of their Serie A season where they are looking to win the title. Even if they don’t win the title, a top-3 finish would help them qualify for the Champions League next season, something which coach Roberto Mancini believes his team should be playing every season. Goal-scorer Jean-Kevin Augustin  of PSG controls the ball during the friendly against Inter Milan in Doha yesterday.And Mancini was keen to give this crucial match experience to as many players as he could. Which is why he ended up making as many as 10 substitutions. PSG on the other hand made only five. But PSG coach Laurent Blanc too wanted his fringe players to get a chance. Which is why, despite the majority of the fans having turned up to watch Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the star striker was substituted in the 65th minute. Also taken off at that time was another big-name footballer Marco Verrati. These were the two people who were the providers for the only goal of the match. Zlatan passed to Verrati who saw the run of teenager Jean-Kevin Augustin and lobbed the ball into his path for the striker to find the back of the net in the 44th minute.  The star attraction Ibrahimovic had a good match linking well with French Footballer of the Year, Blaise Matuidi and both of them had chances in the match. The Swedish striker got a mixed response from the crowd gathered inside the stadium. He was the subject of both booing and clapping every time he touched the ball. The booing, in true football fashion, was from the Inter fans. Zlatan had played with Inter for three years from 2006 to 2009 and then left for Barcelona. He came back to play for arch-rivals AC Milan in 2010, something that the Inter fans clearly haven’t forgiven him for. Another footnote to the match.The match was played at a slow pace, picking up tempo only in parts. Just like in any friendly encounter, the players were keen to avoid any injuries. PSG, the dominant team on paper, were controlling the tempo on the pitch too. Inter were content attacking on the counter. If Inter had got a goal in, the pace of the match would have picked up. But that didn’t happen. PSG had the clearer chances in the match and could have won by a bigger margin. Inter were able to get a bit more threatening in the second half but didn’t really trouble the PSG keeper Kevin Trapp (in the first half and Nicholas Douchez in the second).  Neither team will be too worried about the scoreboard though.As for the packed house at the Al Sadd stadium, this was an evening that will be etched in their memories for a long time to come. From the time, the players walked onto the pitch (through an arch of fireworks and confetti), the fans were constantly enjoying themselves. Some true-blood PSG fans were also cheering their team with chants and waving the flag. All in all, it was a great experience for those present in the stadium. Just before the start of the match, the song Right Here, Right Now by Fatboy Slim was being blasted over the stadium speakers. And this was definitely a ‘I was there’ moment for the spectators.