Zidane ducks out of Old Trafford reunion with Materazzi
The European XI selected to play against Manchester United tonight reads like a who's who of the modern game, but one great name will be missing. Zinedine Zidane has snubbed an offer to come out of retirement for the match after being asked by Uefa to line up hand in hand with Marco Materazzi, the Italian defender who he is more accustomed to greeting with a flying headbutt.
Zidane did not make public the reason behind his decision to avoid tonight's fundraising game at Old Trafford, but the presence of the man who provoked his dismissal in last July's World Cup final is unlikely to have been alluring. "It would have been a fine thing if he was one of the players, but he won't be," said the manager of the all-star side, Marcelo Lippi, who would have been another reminder for Zidane of the calamitous climax to his career in Berlin having taken charge of the Italian team in Germany, which is providing five of the 22 players in the squad.
Another big name who will not be playing is David Beckham, who will take a place in the stands after being ruled out of the game through injury. But three Brazilians - Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Roma's Alessandro Mancini - will play, alongside some more familiar faces including Liverpool's Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher and Henrik Larsson, whose period on loan at Manchester United from Helsingborgs ended at the weekend.
The match is being held to celebrate the 50th anniversaries of both the European Union and United becoming the first English club to play in European competition. The hosts' team is unknown, but they have promised to field their strongest available side and Bobby Charlton insisted last night that they would play to win. "When Sir Alex Ferguson puts out a team, it goes out to win," he said. "I wouldn't dare to question whether it was strong enough as I'd probably be banned from the ground. He's a very strong character."