Zinedine Zidane Declines Invitation to Play with Marco Materazzi

By: Bob | March 12th, 2007

That would have been fun. Zinedine Zidane has said thanks, but no thanks to an invite to play alongside Marco Materazzi as part of the European all-star team that will play Manchester United on Tuesday. Zidane hasn’t offered up a reason for turning down the invitation to play on a team that will be coached by Italy’s Marcello Lippi, but considering the powers that the Matrix’s chest has on players’ heads you can’t blame Zizou for staying far, far away. Even though all-star matches are usually useless, take a look at the roster assembled for this one. It is a tasty cast of characters. Current odds are even that Materazzi will break someone’s leg.

Europe XI Roster:

Goalkeepers: Oliver Kahn (Bayern Munich), Gregory Coupet (Lyon), Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)

Defenders: Paolo Maldini (AC Milan), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Eric Abidal (Olympique Lyon), Lilian Thuram (FC Barcelona), Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona), Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), Fabio Grosso (Inter Milan), Gianluca Zambrotta (FC Barcelona)

Midfielders: Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Juninho (Lyon), Florent Malouda (Lyon), Luis Miguel (Valencia), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)

Forwards: Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona), Ronaldo (AC Milan), Alessandro Mancini (AS Roma), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter Milan), Henrik Larsson (Helsingborgs)

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Category: World Football

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DJR

Thanks for the hook up. Hopefully they won't be blocking the video at my work.
Bob

DJR - You can try your luck here. It is on their schedule and will probably be pirated throughout the Internet. Good luck
DJR

Does anyone know what channel I can watch this match on? I have been looking all over the web and can't find anything.
Laurie

Yeah, and after the racial abuse Abidal took in the first leg of the Roma-Lyon Champions League matchup, he never will, either.
Bob

Good eyes, Marcello. I got the list from Fox, which is fair and balanced but not always correct. Correction made
Marcello

Eric Abidal does not play for Roma.