DOHA, Qatar — Matvei Safonov made four straight penalty saves in a shootout to help Paris Saint-Germain beat Flamengo in the Intercontinental Cup final on Wednesday and win a sixth trophy of 2025.
The goalkeeper was thrown in the air by his teammates after his exploits in the shootout that was won 2-1 by PSG after a 1-1 draw after extra time.
It completed a trophy-laden 12 months for the French team, which had already won the Trophée des Champions, the French league, the French Cup, the Champions League and the UEFA Super Cup — also on penalties against Tottenham in August.
Vitinha, who scored the first penalty in the shootout for PSG, said his team came in totally committed and knew it was facing the toughest of challenges against the Brazilian champions.
“Flamengo is a fantastic, super competitive team,” the Portuguese star said. “I know that compliments won’t mean anything, because they wanted to win, just like us. The best compliment I can give is that we were 100% in this game, we really wanted to win this competition, and even so, we only won on penalties.
“Well done to them, even at the end of the season, with quality and determination. They made life very difficult for us. We wanted to settle it earlier, but unfortunately, it was only on penalties.”
Khvicha Kvaratskhelia gave PSG the lead in the 38th minute before Marquinhos conceded a penalty converted by Jorginho in the 62nd minute for Flamengo, which was looking to win a second Intercontinental Cup title after 1981.
“It was an incredible year. Mistakes happen. I have already missed a penalty,” Jorginho said after the game. “There is no other word but pride. What the team gave, fought, left everything on the field to honour the jersey they wear, and they honoured it. It’s a shame to end like this. It ends with a bitter taste.”
Flamengo captured the Copa Libertadores and the Brazilian championship titles in recent weeks.
It was a first global title for PSG.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this recap.
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