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Tickets on sale Monday for star-studded 'Legends' match

Published: 24 Sep. 2023, 15:08 Updated: 24 Sep. 2023, 23:15

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

From left: Francesco Totti, Paolo Maldini, Ahn Jung-hwan and Choi Jin-cheul pose with legend all-star match jerseys during a press conference held at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul in western Seoul on Friday. [YONHAP]

Tickets go on sale Monday for the Racing City Group match taking place in Korea in October. Some of the biggest names in football from the 1990s and 2000s, including Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Gilberto Silva, Gianluca Zambrotta, Francesco Totti and Korea’s own Ahn Jung-hwan will take part in the game.

The match, organized by Racing City Group, will see Korean legends playing against Italian and Brazilian legends at Goyang Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi on Oct. 21.

The Korean squad for the legends game [RACING CITY GROUP KOREA]

The Korean legend squad includes the likes of Ahn, Lee Woon-jae, Lee Eul-young, all of whom reached the semifinals at the 2002 World Cup with Korea, in addition to Kim Chi-woo, Choi Sung-yong and Kim Hyung-bum.

The Korean legends will face defender Paolo Maldini and forward Francesco Totti from Italy, whom Korea played against in the round of 16 of the World Cup. Korea won that game 2-1, although the score was considered controversial at the time and would go on to have a huge impact on Ahn's career in Italy.

The Italian squad for the legends match [RACING CITY GROUP KOREA]

Maldini is one of the greatest defenders of all time, having won the Champions League five times with AC Milan and the World Cup once in 2006. Totti also won the World Cup in 2006 and he is an AS Roma legend, having scored 250 goals for 619 matches for the team.

The Brazilian legend team also includes players that were part of the 2002 World Cup winning squad, with Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Rivaldo and Kaka on the team.

Ronaldo received the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and went on to win the Ballon d’Or that year.

Ronaldinho is also one of the most famous living footballers, with an incredible resume that includes 97 caps and 33 goals for Brazil, 70 goals in 145 appearances for Barcelona and 20 goals in 76 appearances for AC Milan.

The Brazilian squad for the legends match [RACING CITY GROUP KOREA]

He retired in 2018 with a FIFA World Cup, a Champions League title, two La Liga titles, a Ballon d’Or, two FIFA World Player of the Year awards and countless team of the year nominations to his name. He has since been added to the Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame, the AC Milan Hall of Fame, the Ballon d’Or Dream Team and FIFA’s list of the 100 greatest players of all time.

He visited Korea last month and held a press conference at Fairmont Ambassador Seoul in western Seoul alongside Italian defenders Marco Materazzi and Fabio Cannavaro to promote the legends game, while Totti and Maldini held a press conference at the same venue with Ahn and Choi Jin-cheul on Friday.

Tickets for the match will be available to purchase at Interpark Ticket starting Monday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN AND JIM BULLEY [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]