Gharafa’s Nene (left) vies for the ball with a Schalke player during their friendly match in Doha yesterday. PICTURE: Othman Iraqi
Adam Szalai’s second half brace gave Schalke 04 a 2-1 win over Al Gharafa in a friendly yesterday.
The seven-time Qatar champions, coached by Brazilian legend Zico, had taken the lead in the 26th minute courtesy former Paris Saint-Germain player Nene, before the Hungarian scored two in a matter of eight minutes.
Schalke had the better of the opening exchanges, with u-19 forward Donis Avdijaj featuring most prominently in front of goal, though without any success. Jens Keller was forced into an early change, however, after Max Meyer hobbled off with a groin problem.
Al Gharafa took the lead with their first serious attempt on goal in the 26th minute when Nene beat Timo Hildebrand with a shot from just outside the area.
The game lost much of its fluency after that and the players were not helped by a sudden downpour from the 35th minute. Though the Royal Blues had more of the play, they were unable to create any meaningful chances after the energy-sapping training sessions of recent days, with the exception of an Avdijaj shot that fizzed past the left-hand upright in first-half stoppage time.
Keller made five changes during the interval and it was one of the new introductions, Jefferson Farfan, who set up the equaliser in textbook fashion in the 49th minute. The Peruvian crossed from the right into the middle, where Szalai dispatched a clinical finish into the bottom-left corner.
Eight minutes later the Hungary forward was on target again, beating substitute goalkeeper Abdulaziz Ali with a powerfully struck shot from close range.
While Schalke remained the better side in the ensuing period and controlled the proceedings, they could not extend the lead.