Cha Doo-ri Will Play With Ronaldo

“Chaboom Junior” Cha Doo-ri (25, Frankfurt, picture) was invited to a charity game in which a number of the world’s soccer stars participated.

The Federation Internationale of Football Association reported on January 19 that they have invited 50 soccer stars, including Cha Doo-ri, to a charity game to help the victims of the South Asian Tsunami, which will be held on February 16.

This is the second time for Cha Doo-ri to be selected as a world all-star member. He participated in the Real Madrid’s 100th anniversary match, which was held on December 19, 2002. Cha will be participating in the charity game just like his father Cha Bum-geun did in a UNICEF fund-raising charity match in 1980.

The all-star members will be separated into two teams: “Ronaldinho 11” and “Shevchenco 11.” The Asian players, including Cha Doo-ri, Nakata Hidetoshi (AC Fiorentina) from Japan, Mehdi Mahdavikia (Hamburg) from Iran, and Li Tie (Everton FC) from China are rostered on the “Ronaldinho 11”’s list. “Ronaldinho 11,” which is made up of non-European players, includes FIFA’s Player of the Year 2004 Ronaldinho (Brazil), “the top scorer of Spanish Primera Liga” Samuel Etto (Cameroon), Ronaldo (Brazil), and Leite Ribeiro Adriano (Brazil). Cha will play on offense with these world-famous strikers.

The team “Shevchenko 11,” which is led by “Best European Player of the Year 2004” Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan) from Ukraine, will include star players from Europe, such as Gianluigi Buffon (Italy), Francesco Totti (Italy), David Beckham (England), Raul Gonzalez (Spain), Thierry Henry (France), and Zinedine Zidane (France).

Soon-Il Kwon stt77@donga.com