NEW YORK: Renter: A starry lineup of soccer legends including Bobby Charton, Eusebio, George Best, Franz Beckenbauer and Carlos Alberto will play on Saturday in a match celebrating the 1994 world cup in the United States.
“We hope to see one of the greatest ‘games with the greatest array of stars ever in this country,” said Noel Lemon, promoter of “The legends” match, on Thursday.
He said the game at Giants Stadium would be a celebration of the awarding of the 1994 World Cup to the United States, where Soccer is played by two million youngsters but which has no major outdoor professional league.
Brazilian Pele, who starred for the New York cosmos in the now-defunct North American Soccer League, said the choice of venue for 1994 was significant.
“It is very important to support soccer as. a sport in America —not just for one event,” said Pele, one legend not scheduled to play ‘on Saturday in the Americas v. rest of the world match.
Playing alongside the 51 year old CharIton of Britain for rest of the world will be Northern Irelands best, Eusebio of Portugal and West Germany’s Beckenbauer, who will also coach on Saturday.
The team also includes: Poland’s Zbigniew Boniek, Scotland’s Danny McGrain, Northern Ireland goalkeeper Pat Jennings, Italian Paulo Rossi, France’s Michel Platini and a trio of players from the great Dutch team of the 1970’s — Johnny Rep, Johan Neeskens and Ruud Krol.
Article extracted from this publication >> November 4, 1988
