Sports / Soccer
Barca legends announce squad to play Zimbabwe
03 Nov 2017 at 05:49hrs | Views
ORGANISERS of next week's exhibition match between Spanish football giants Barcelona legends and Zimbabwe have announced the squad for the Barca yester-year stars who are expected to feature.
Twenty legends from the Spanish giants are expected to arrive in the country on Saturday next week, for a match that has been pencilled for the following day, November 12, at the National Sports Stadium.
Rayco Garcia, a football agent and an ex-Barcelona trainee, who is organising the match, yesterday unveiled a list of 14 players at a Press conference, that he said had confirmed their participation.
The team will be coached by former Barcelona and Chelsea rightback Albert Ferrer.
The list include former Portugal stars Anderson Luís de Souza, known as Deco and Simão Sabrosa, Dutch Patrick Kluivert and Edgar Davids, Brazilians Edmílson, Rivaldo, Italian Gianluca Zambrotta, former Spanish international Gaizka Mendieta and retired French international Éric Abidal.
Initially, the Barcelona legends were scheduled to play the Warriors, but since the senior national men squad will be away in Namibia on the same weekend for an international match, Zifa are now roping in the Warriors legends for the encounter.
Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa said he would come up with a list of former Warriors players including the likes of Peter Ndlovu and Benjani Mwaruwari, with the confirmed list, and the gate charges for the match, set to be announced in due course.
Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture minister Makhosini Hlongwane, who is facilitating the match, said he was excited to host such an event that seeks to improve tourism in the country.
"The visit by the Barcelona legends is set to create a pitched positive furore not only in Zimbabwe, but beyond its borders internationally, thereby, drawing a possible large contingent of tourists to throng either Harare simply to catch a glimpse of the local and visiting football icons," Hlongwane said.
The 33-member Barcelona delegation will head to Victoria Falls on November 13 before flying to their respective bases the following day.
Confirmed Barça legends list
Deco, Simão Sabrosa (Portugal), Edmílson, Rivaldo, Giovanni Silva (Brazil), Éric Abidal, Ludovic Giuly (France), Gaizka Mendieta, Sergi Barjuán, Jesús Angoy (Spain), Gianluca Zambrotta, Francesco Coco (Italy), Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands)
Twenty legends from the Spanish giants are expected to arrive in the country on Saturday next week, for a match that has been pencilled for the following day, November 12, at the National Sports Stadium.
Rayco Garcia, a football agent and an ex-Barcelona trainee, who is organising the match, yesterday unveiled a list of 14 players at a Press conference, that he said had confirmed their participation.
The team will be coached by former Barcelona and Chelsea rightback Albert Ferrer.
The list include former Portugal stars Anderson Luís de Souza, known as Deco and Simão Sabrosa, Dutch Patrick Kluivert and Edgar Davids, Brazilians Edmílson, Rivaldo, Italian Gianluca Zambrotta, former Spanish international Gaizka Mendieta and retired French international Éric Abidal.
Initially, the Barcelona legends were scheduled to play the Warriors, but since the senior national men squad will be away in Namibia on the same weekend for an international match, Zifa are now roping in the Warriors legends for the encounter.
Zifa president Philip Chiyangwa said he would come up with a list of former Warriors players including the likes of Peter Ndlovu and Benjani Mwaruwari, with the confirmed list, and the gate charges for the match, set to be announced in due course.
Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture minister Makhosini Hlongwane, who is facilitating the match, said he was excited to host such an event that seeks to improve tourism in the country.
"The visit by the Barcelona legends is set to create a pitched positive furore not only in Zimbabwe, but beyond its borders internationally, thereby, drawing a possible large contingent of tourists to throng either Harare simply to catch a glimpse of the local and visiting football icons," Hlongwane said.
The 33-member Barcelona delegation will head to Victoria Falls on November 13 before flying to their respective bases the following day.
Confirmed Barça legends list
Deco, Simão Sabrosa (Portugal), Edmílson, Rivaldo, Giovanni Silva (Brazil), Éric Abidal, Ludovic Giuly (France), Gaizka Mendieta, Sergi Barjuán, Jesús Angoy (Spain), Gianluca Zambrotta, Francesco Coco (Italy), Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands)
Source - newsday
