A good time was had by all.
 
Especially by the New York Cosmos and Aly Alberto Hassan.
 
Hassan snapped a tie in the 89th minute to boost the Cosmos to a 2-1 victory over FC St. Pauli in an entertaining international friendly at Rocco B. Commisso Stadium on Thursday night.
 
"It was a big occasion," he said as the Cosmos hosted their first international since 1985. "I'm well aware of the team and how they play. I follow them a little bit. So, having scored the game-winner against them is awesome. It's pretty cool."
 
It certainly was.
 
Just playing against the Bundesliga 2. side was a thrill for many Cosmos players.
 
"It was special," Cosmos captain Danny Szetela said. "It finally feels good not to go to another country to play an international freindly. It's always fun to go, obviously, but it was exciting. Good atmosphere."
 
It was a memorable night as supporters of both sides partied and marched together.
 
"It looked like they enjoyed it," Cosmos head coach Carlos Mendes said. "A great team to play against, a good level, a nice crowd. So, I think the guys were excited. It was a fun game and I think overall it went very well, so we enjoyed it."
 
The contest turned out to be a good advertisement for soccer -- on and off the field. Both sides played attacking, entertaining soccer.
 
"I hope it was a good sign," Mendes said. "It's a team that's playing and fighting in the second division. We put on a good showing. We showed we enjoyed playing and we like to play the right way. It's a very good team, a team that's established and has a great reputation."
 
Cosmos center back Emmanuele Sembroni, who scored the first goal of the match and was called for a handball that led to St. Pauli's penalty-kick equalizer, said he "had a lot of fun."
 
"It's always good to challenge myself when you play this team, where I need to improve, where I need to work more and learning about the tempo against higher quality players," he added. "It was very important for me to understand where I am at this moment."
 
Mendes made sure all his 18 players who dressed saw action.
 
"Today was a great experience for the club," he said, adding that St. Pauli was "a team that came here to enjoy it. We learned a lot from them. Hopefully, we can keep this relationship open and we'll have more opportunities in the future."
 
Hassan, who came on for Ricardo Bocanegra in the 71st minute, made sure he took care of his opportunity converting an Aaron Dennis feed for an 11th-hour goal.
 
"It's awesome," he said. "I'm coming back from an injury, so I'm taking my minutes as they come. I think the players who played the majority of the match deserve more credit than I do. They put in the shifts. I put in the end product, but they put in a really hard shift and worked. I was lucky enough at the end to be able to slide it in."
 
At the present time, the Cosmos don't have any international friendlies scheduled, but Szetela would love to play in some more.
 
"I think we need to see more in the future," he said. "Not only for us, but to test ourselves against better competition, against better leagues in the world. It was fun and hopefully we'll get some more in the future."
 
The Cosmos return to league competition when they host Hartford City FC in the National Premier Soccer League at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale, N.Y., on Saturday, June 1, at 8 p.m.