Ultimate Champions take centre stage at festival
Friday, May 27, 2011
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Cafu, Frank de Boer and Teddy Sheringham will be among the stars putting their boots back on for Saturday's Ultimate Champions match at the UEFA Champions Festival site.
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The week-long UEFA Champions Festival in Hyde Park concludes on Saturday with a host of big-name former players meeting in the Ultimate Champions match.
The England All-Stars will take on their World counterparts at 13.00 local time as a fitting prelude to the evening's UEFA Champions League final between FC Barcelona and Manchester United FC. Since opening on 21 May, the festival has welcomed a number of high-profile ambassadors such as Dwight Yorke, Gianfranco Zola and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Yorke and Van Bronckhorst will join the likes of Brazil old boy Cafu, Ronald and Frank de Boer, and Christian Karembeu under the charge of Ronald Koeman and Carles Rexach. They will face an England team coached by Gary Neville and Gary Lineker which includes ex-Manchester United strike partners Andrew Cole and Teddy Sheringham, as well as Peter Beardsley and Paul Merson.
While Cole and Sheringham are the only former UEFA Champions League winners in the England selection, having lifted the trophy with United in 1999, their opponents can boast an impressive nine European Champion Clubs' Cups between them. Referee of the 2010 FIFA World Cup final and last season's UEFA Champions League showpiece, Howard Webb, will be officiating.
The festival opens at 09.00 local time on Saturday and closes at 17.00. Entrance is free and can be accessed from the Marble Arch tube station side of the park.
Full lineups
World All-Stars: A Zubizarreta, Cafu, F De Boer, P Andersson, L Radebe, R De Boer, P Cocu, G Van Bronckhorst, D Yorke, C Karembeu, J-J Okocha. Coaches: R Koeman, C Rexach.
England All-Stars: D Beasant, C Powell, P Merson, J Scales, P Beardsley, D Anderton, T Sheringham, A Cole, J Barnes, D Wise, G Le Saux. Coaches: G Lineker, G Neville.