Rio de Janeiro (EFE).- Rio de Janeiro will host this year the first edition of the World Legends Cup, the Legends World Cup whose title will be disputed by 160 figures from 8 countries, among which the Brazilian Romário, the Spanish Carles Puyol, the Argentine Sergio Agüero and the French 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 new generations can get to know them and the old ones can remember them, they announced this Monday at a press conference.
«It won’t just be an exhibition. It will also be a competition and the players who have already accepted the invitation have said 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.
Legends’ World Championship
Although the date for this year’s edition has not yet been set – it will most likely be in the second half of the year – it has already been agreed that the seven qualifying matches will be played at the Nilton Santos stadium and the final at the Maracanã.
The competitors in the first edition will be Argentina, captained by Sergio Agüero and coached by Gabriel Batistuta; Brazil, led by Cafu 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.
Personas con el trofeo de la Copa Mundial de Leyendas (WLC) este lunes, durante la presentación en la casa de especa
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.
According to the tournament rules, the matches will be 60 minutes long (two 30-minute halves) with eleven players on the field and another nine on the bench, but substitutions will not be limited.
«It’s very special»
“It’s very special for those of us who already play football 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 playing football, especially in my city and at the Maracanã,” said Romário.
At the World Cup presentation event, Clarence Seedorf, who is also one of the main organizers, and former footballers such as the Argentinian Javier Saviola, the Italian Alessandro Nesta, and the Brazilians Emerson and Athirson were also present.
“We will come with the claw and competitiveness as always, although we 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.
120 Interested Ex-Footballers
Seedorf stated that the organizers have already contacted around 120 former soccer players and that they all expressed their interest and enthusiasm. “The only thing we need is the date,” he said.
«We did a date analysis based on hotel availability, potential, and the calendar, and we already have the date defined, but we prefer to leave it pending and announce it later,» Buyadi affirmed when questioned by EFE.
