Winning at PSG would be even better than Scotland’s famous victory over France in Paris, says Scott Brown
● Celtic captain recalls ‘ running g about silly’ y in 1997 in one of the b best nights of h his career, but doing it in the Champions League will be tougher
I t ’s hard t o t op b e a t i ng one of t he world’s best international sides on t hei r own patc h. But S c ot t Brown will consider a win over Paris St Germain with Celtic tomorrow night to be a greater achievement than when Scotland shocked France at the same Parc des Princes stadium ten years ago.
Brown was back where it all started in Fife yesterday, cutting the ribbon to officially open John Thomson Park in Cardenden, named after the Celtic goalkeeper who tragically died after a collision with Rangers player Sam English in 1931.
Thomson was from Cardenden and the fully enclosed, floodlit 3G pitch is designed for use by locals. In particular it’s to help those keen youngsters looking to emulate both Brown and Thomson. Fife’s budding f o otballers will have to truly excel to match Brown’s achievements. Currently in the form of his life, the 32- year- old is far from finished.
Des p i t e wi n n i n g a g a i n s t Fr a nc e in Paris, skippering his countr y and l a n d i n g s i x s u c c e s s i ve t i t l e s wi t h Celtic, Brown believes a best career moment could still lie ahead. Celtic’s Champions League clash in Paris provides him with a chance to cre - ate some more special memories in the city.
He answered with a very confident “yes” when asked if winning for the second time i n the Parc des Princes would stand as the better result. Brown was a valuable member of the Scotland side that humbled France there under Alex Mcleish a decade ago last week.
James Mcfadden’s oppor tunistic goal from 35 yards deser vedly stole the limelight but Brown and his teammates dug in well, carr ying out the spadework in the 1- 0 victory.
“I ran about silly for 90 minutes, got t hree touches of t he ball and defended really well and Faddy got an unb elievable goal, which Craig Gordon told me today he assisted… that sums i t u p p r e t t y mu c h ,” B r o wn smiled.
A lot of perspiration mixed with a pinch of inspiration – a Leigh Griffiths free- kick perhaps? – could be the recipe for success again tomorrow.
“T h e y ’ v e s p e n t a l o t o f m o n e y, t h e y wa n t t o w i n t h e C h a m p i o n s L e a g u e ,” s ai d Brown of PSG. “They l o ok l i ke t he t e a m t o b e a t just now. If we go over there and get any s or t of result, i t wo u l d b e f a n t a s t i c f o r us.”
It seemed surreal to hear Brown speak in Cardenden w h i l e k n o w i n g t h a t h e wo u l d b e t a k i n g o n t h e might of Neymar & Co just 48 hours later. The Celtic skipper gladly gave up his time and had words of support for all the local school pupils who gathered f or the occasion, even those wearing Rangers tops.
“B e i ng i n Fi f e , t ha t ’s what happens,” he quipped. Brown r e c a l l e d p l ay i n g f o o t b a l l i n d a r k s t r e e t s i n n e a r b y H i l l of B eath, where he grew up, and noted how the new facilities will make a difference for those who share his enthusias m f or t he game. He hop e d some might grow up to play for Scotland, too. According to Brown, France were the best team in the world on the famous night they were downed by S c ot l a nd i n Pari s . While this was not their official status – Raymond Domenech’s team were ranked fourth at the time – they were recently World C u p f i n a l i s t s , a n d we r e ove r - whelming favourites to take care of the visitors in the Euro 2008 qualifier.
Scotland’s equally memorable t r i umph over France i n t he home f i xture t he previous year meant i t seemed even less likely they would prevail in Paris. But prevail they did, to go top of the group. “It will go down as one of the best nights in my Scotland career so far,” said Brown.
Asked where it ranked overall, he r epli ed: “I t i s defi nitel y up t here – playing against top qualit y players. I mean, jeez, I played against Anelka and Malouda, that was just on their left side.
“Me and Hutts [ Alan Hutton] both p l ay e d r i g h t - b a c k . No b o dy we n t f or ward. We to ok a man each and defended and hoped they didn’t get past us. We did enough to get away with a 1- 0 and Craigie [ Gordon] was brilliant again in goal.”
Two of the Scotland XI that evening will return to the Parc des Princes t o morrow f or Cel t i c’s Cha mpions League Group B fixture – Brown and Gordon. Clearly much of the spotlight falls on the front three of Neymar and his attacking cohorts Kylian Mbappe and Edison Cavani.
But PSG’S midfield trio can’t be dismissed – cer t ainly not i f you’re up against them like Brown.
Although one of Celtic’s better perf o r mer s i n t h e 5 - 0 d e f e a t a t C e l t-
‘ THE TEAM TO BEAT’ “PSG have spent a lot of money, they want to win the Champions League. They look like the team to beat just now. If we go over there and get any sort of result, it would be fantastic for us”
SCOTT BROWN
ic Park in September, Brown still found the going tough against Marco Veratti, Adrien R abiot and Thiago Motta, pictured.
“They drop deep to get on the ball and they get into areas where you don’t want to go if you’re a midfielder, so they create space for the front three – and the front three’s movement is phenomenal as well,” he said.
While it’ s easy to say while standing such along way from Paris in every sense, Brown expects Celtic to display more aggression than in their first group game.
“When they were playing one or two touch in their own box against five of our men, we were trying to press ,” Brown recalled .“There is a point where you just have to back off and let them have the ball. I think on Wednesday we have togo a bit more aggressive in the tackle, get a bit closer to them and be a bit braver on the ball.”