GhanaFA

Pele's to play for Mandela

16 years ago
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Ghana’s Abedi Ayew ‘Pele’ will join celebrated Brazilian star, Pele to play a match in honour of Nelson Mandela's 89th birthday but both soccer legends will be on opposite sides.

The names of the two and other world stars drawn from past and present appeared on the line-ups released on Thursday by FIFA for the game dubbed,"90 Minutes for Mandela" on July 18 at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa.

The former Black Stars captain, Abedi Ayew is the only ex-Ghana international included in the list though there’s another Ghanaian representation, coach Claude Le Roy.

Next week’s game will be the second time the ex-Ghana international would be playing in a similar game after taking part in the 1999 match to honour Mandela when he stepped down as South African president, also organized by FIFA.

More than 50 players have confirmed their participation in the match which ill pit Africa against the rest of the world.

The Africa team will feature two members who have won the African player of the year three times - Eto'o of Cameroon and Abedi Pele of Ghana - and 1995 world player of the year, George Weah of Liberia.

Led by Pele, the 'Rest of the World Team' also includes 1987 European player of the year Ruud Gullit of the Netherlands and 1998 World Cup-winner Christian Karembeu of France.

The match also has winners of all of the major titles in world soccer, including the World Cup, the European Championship, the African Cup of Nations and the Champions League.