Rio de Janeiro will host this year the first edition of the World Legends Cupthe Legends World Cup whose title will be contested by 160 figures from 8 countries, among which the Brazilian Romário, the Catalan Carles Puyol, the Argentine Sergio Agüero and the Frenchman Thierry Henry stand out. The new world tournament, whose next editions have already been assigned to Saudi Arabia, China and the United States, will try to bring together some of the biggest idols of world football so that the new generations can get to know them and the old ones remember them, its organizers announced this Monday at a press conference.
“It will not just be an exhibition. It will also be a competition and the players who have already accepted the invitation have said that they are very excited to compete again and for the possibility of competing for a world title,” said the founder and president of the World Legends Cup, Saudi businessman Nasr Jawid Buyadi.
Although the date of this year’s edition has not yet been defined – it will most likely be in the second half – it has already been agreed that the seven qualifying matches will be played at the Nilton Santos Olympic Stadium and the final at the Maracaná. The competitors in the first edition will be Argentina, captained by Sergio ‘Kun’ Agüero and trained by Gabriel Batistuta; Brazil, led by Cafú and with Zico on the bench; Spain, which will have Carlos Puyol as captain and Fernando Hierro as strategist, and France, with Thierry Henry as captain and Patrick Vieira as coach.
Completing the list are Italy, captained by Gianluigi Buffon and coached by Paolo Maldini; Netherlands, with Clarence Seedorf commanding on the field and Ruud Gullit on the bench; Saudi Arabia, whose captain will be Yasser Al-Qahtani and coach Majed Abdullah; and Nigeria, led by Nwankwo Kanu and with Khalilou Fadiga on the bench.
The matches will be 60 minutes, with unlimited substitutions
According to the rules of the tournament, the matches will be 60 minutes (two 30-minute halves) with eleven players on the court and another nine on the bench, but there will be no limit to substitutions. “It is very special for those of us who already play soccer to have the opportunity to play in a World Cup like this. I am very happy to be one of the Brazilians who will have the opportunity to return to the field to do what I like most, which is to play soccer, especially in my city and at the Maracaná,” said Romário.
Clarence Seedorf, who is also one of the main organizers, and former soccer players such as the Argentine Javier Saviola, the Italian Alessandro Nesta and the Brazilians Emerson and Athirson were also present at the World Cup presentation event. “We will come with the drive and competitiveness we always have, although we will know that we will face very tough teams. The most important thing is that we can enjoy the tournament and that the children can meet their parents’ idols,” said Saviola.
They know the date, but they will announce it later
Seedorf stated that the organizers have already contacted about 120 former footballers and that all of them have expressed their interest and enthusiasm. “The only thing we’re missing is the date,” he said. “We did an analysis of dates based on hotel availability, potential and the calendar, and we already have the date defined, but we prefer to leave it on hold and announce it later,” said Buyadi when questioned by EFE.
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The organizer stated that the expectation is to attract some 50,000 foreign tourists to Rio de Janeiro, broadcast the tournament to some 900 million viewers in 75 countries and reach 1 billion followers on social networks.
