World Soccer All-Stars Compete with “Poverty”

“He is the best in both his personal conduct as well as his soccer skills.”

Zinedine Zidane (31, Real Madrid), the well-known player of French Art Soccer, celebrated by himself as he won the FIFA Player of the Year award and scored two goals at the charity match of world soccer all-stars which is raising funds to conquer poverty.

Zidane participated in the match, sponsored by United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with the title of “fight against poverty,” and commanded the “Zidane Team” on his way to knocking in two goals against “Ronaldo Team.”

Zidane showed his unique smart passing and terrific individual skills to excite the crowd of 30,000 in Basel, Switzerland.

However the victory went to “Ronaldo Team.” Even though Ronaldo didn’t score, the “Ronaldo team” achieved a victory over the “Zidane team” with two goals by Robino and a goal apiece by Diego and Sabio, finishing the game at 4-3. Zidane is used to actively participating in charity work, playing in matches such as all-stars games to collect funds for youths. Total admission fees of 1 million Euro (about 1.45 billion won) and gains through TV relay and sponsors will be used for U.N. funds to eliminate poverty. Zidane was honored to be selected as the FIFA Player of the Year for the third time in his career following 1998, 2000, surpassing both his teammate, Ronaldo, and French countryman Thierry Henry (Arsenal) in this honor.

Jong-Koo Yang yjongk@donga.com