Boban says goodbye

Zvonimir Boban, one of Croatia's favourite footballing sons, brought down the curtain on his career in Zagreb last night.

'Beautiful evening'
Boban lined up in the colours of three different teams - NK Dinamo Zagreb, AC Milan and the Croatian national side - on a testimonial night at the Maksimir stadium, where 40,000 fans gathered to show their appreciation for the 34-year-old. "The evening was beautiful and I am so happy," said Boban afterwards. "I have to thank the magnificent fans and the players that helped put on such a show."

Milan greats
Boban began the evening in the blue of Dinamo, lining up against a Milan team made up of players of the Rossoneri's great era of the early 1990s. Former coach Fabio Capello was present together with such luminaries as Demetrio Albertini, Dejan Savicevic, Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Frank Rijkaard and Marcel Desailly.

Ivanisevic goal
Boban switched teams at half-time and scored twice as Milan won 3-1. He then donned the red-and-white checks of Croatia as his country's 1998 FIFA World Cup side reunited to take on a Rest of the World XI. Boban made way in the second half for the tennis star Goran Ivanisevic, his closest friend, who scored Croatia's goal in a 2-1 defeat.

Redondo return
Jean-Pierre Papin and Leonardo scored the goals for the Rest of the World team who included Argentinian midfield player Fernando Redondo. The Milan player stepped up his recovery from a long-term knee injury with his first run-out in over two years, and played for 40 minutes of the match.