May 10, 2008 3:10 PM

SOURCE:
goal.com

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Pauleta Prepares For Emotional Farewell

Portuguese international forward Pedro Pauleta will play his last match at the Parc des Princes on Saturday when relegation threatened PSG face Saint-Étienne.

Nicknamed the 'Eagle of the Azores' in France, the Portuguese predator has one-hundred and nine goals to his name since joining PSG five seasons ago from Bordeaux.

It seemed that honours would fall into his lap in his early time at PSG as the club were regularly challenging for the league title and claimed two French Cups however the last two seasons have been very different with Paul Le Guen's side fighting a battle against relegation.

A Coupe de la Ligue winner's medal is unlikely to disguise what has been a disappointing season for the thirty-five year-old, who is a former Ligue 1 Player of the Year, an accolade won while with les Girondins.

From the moment Paul Le Guen took over as head coach from Guy Lacombe in January 2007 it quickly became apparent that the relationship between Pauleta and his new boss would be fractious.

At times this season Pauleta has struggled to break into PSG's first team this season despite leading the club's goal scoring charts, Le Guen favouring a more industrious-type forward.

Nevertheless, Jérôme Taboul of l'Equipe expects, “the homage of the Parc des Princes will be incandescent. It will be the most beautiful sight since the departure of Rai ten years ago.”

Indeed, Le Guen's resistance to playing the forward is certainly one factor in his unpopularity amongst the ranks of PSG fans.

Pauleta is keenly aware that it will be an emotional evening, “I am sure that I will cry,” he told local newspaper, the Parisian.

The forward told France Football, “I feel already a very strong emotion. For the five years that I have been in Paris, there has been a very strong relationship which was established between us [Pauleta and the PSG support].

"On Saturday, I will play my last match on this field and I hope to bid my farewell to the supporters with a victory. The closer end of the match comes, the stronger the emotion will be for me and I think that the supporters will feel the same thing.”

There is an air of perspective about his comments however as he revealed to the official PSG website that, “It is perhaps the most important match of the season. Our objective is to take the three points.”

No doubt the Portuguese forward has one final wish: to score the winning goal on Saturday evening in order to be fittingly remembered by his adoring public.