By Doug Conway
May 17th 2008 @ 5:31am
French great Zidane joins all-star cast in Sydney
Three-times world footballer of the year Zinedine Zidane is coming to Australia with a star-studded international team to play an exhibition match at Sydney Football Stadium on June 1.
Zidane will lead a team featuring a number of his teammates from the French side that won the 1998 World Cup, including Marcel Desailly and Robert Pires, along with Danish international Jesper Olsen and Switzerland’s Flavio Celestini.
The team, managed by France’s World Cup winning coach Aime Jacquet, will take on a side composed of stars from Australia’s 1997 World Cup qualifying squad including Paul Okon, Tony Vidmar, Craig Foster and Stan Lazaridis and coached by Frank Farina.
Australia’s 1997 campaign ended in a heart-breaking elimination at the final qualifying hurdle against Iran in Melbourne.
Socceroo Tim Cahill, recovering from a foot operation, today described Zidane’s visit as the “biggest dream ever”.
“David Beckham was here (in Sydney) recently and he’s one of the most iconic and marketable players in the world,” said Cahill.
“But ‘Zizou’ is one of the biggest players in the world. He is poetry in motion, and he so passionate about football.
“What a special opportunity this is for Australian kids to see him.”
Zidane will conduct a coaching clinic for youngsters at the SFS the following day from 3-5pm.
Promoter Alain Barataud said kids were the key to getting the French great to Australia.
“Once he found out it was for kids, he said OK, no problem, and he is donating his services for free,” said Barataud.
Another key was the fact that Zidane was already coming to the region.
He will be playing in a testimonial match for former French teammate Christian Karembeu in Noumea two days before the Sydney exhibition.
Zidane, 36, famously blotted his copybook when he was red carded for headbutting an Italian opponent in retaliation for verbal taunts near the end of the 2006 World Cup final in Germany.
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