charles
Graham Fisher
Andrew Aigner-Muehler
LukeS
HardyPreview: Europe XI vs Manchester United
March 13th 2007 03:21
A star-studded 22-man European squad will face English Premier League leaders Manchester United in a charity match on Tuesday evening (GMT) to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the European Union and of Manchester United becoming the first English side to play in UEFA's European club competition.
Liverpool players Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, Barcelona captain Carlos Puyol and many of the Italian World Cup-winning squad will take part in the match as well as three Brazilian stars - Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Juninho - taking part as 'guests'.
Former Manchester United player David Beckham has had to withdraw from the European select-side due to injury, but will return to his old stomping ground to watch the game from the stands.
Retired France legend Zinedine Zidane has turned down the opportunity to take to the pitch for the select-side - whether or not Italian Marco Materazzi's presence in the squad had anything to do with his decision, we do not know.
'Zizou' ended his career with a red card after thrusting his head into Materazzi's chest in the World Cup final of 2006.
The full Europe XI squad are as follows:
Goalkeepers: Oliver Kahn, Grégory Coupet, Iker Casillas.
Defenders: Paolo Maldini, Jamie Carragher, Eric Abidal, Lilan Thuram, Carles Puyol, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso.
Midfielders: Gianluca Zambrotta, Steven Gerrard, Juninho Pernambucano, Florent Malouda, Luis Miguel, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo.
Strikers: Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Alessandro Mancini, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson.
Liverpool players Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, Barcelona captain Carlos Puyol and many of the Italian World Cup-winning squad will take part in the match as well as three Brazilian stars - Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Juninho - taking part as 'guests'.
Former Manchester United player David Beckham has had to withdraw from the European select-side due to injury, but will return to his old stomping ground to watch the game from the stands.
Retired France legend Zinedine Zidane has turned down the opportunity to take to the pitch for the select-side - whether or not Italian Marco Materazzi's presence in the squad had anything to do with his decision, we do not know.
'Zizou' ended his career with a red card after thrusting his head into Materazzi's chest in the World Cup final of 2006.
The full Europe XI squad are as follows:
Goalkeepers: Oliver Kahn, Grégory Coupet, Iker Casillas.
Defenders: Paolo Maldini, Jamie Carragher, Eric Abidal, Lilan Thuram, Carles Puyol, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso.
Midfielders: Gianluca Zambrotta, Steven Gerrard, Juninho Pernambucano, Florent Malouda, Luis Miguel, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo.
Strikers: Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Alessandro Mancini, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrik Larsson.
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