Zidane, Vieira Shows Love for Country

Former France football stars Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Vieira
withdrew from a charity football match at Manchester United's Old
Trafford ground on Saturday, also featuring David Beckham, following
the terror attacks in Paris. Retired France World Cup-winners Zidane
and Vieira, were due to line up for a Rest of the World XI against a
Great Britain and Ireland XI in a 'Match for Children'. But when the
team sheet for the match was released just over an hour before the
scheduled 3:00pm kick- off time, there were two blank spaces on the
Rest of the World substitutes bench where the names of Zidane and
Vieira should have been. Match organisers explained the pair's absence
by issuing a statement which said: "In light of the tragic events in
Paris last night some of the players who were set to take part in
today's Match for Children at Old Trafford unfortunately were not
longer able to participate. Our thoughts go out to the victims and
families." However, two other Frenchmen, former United defender Mikael
Silvestre and ex-Arsenal favourite Robert Pires were both included in
the Rest of the World starting XI. Earlier, a post on Manchester
United's official Twitter feed said players would observe a minute's
silence before kick-off and wear black armbands in respect of
those killed in Paris. A separate United statement, confirming the
match would go ahead as scheduled, asked fans to arrive early and not
to bring a bag to Old Trafford "unless it is absolutely necessary". At
least 128 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks by
gunmen and suicide bombers across Paris on Friday. Saturday's match in
Manchester is the final leg of a global fund-raising tour that former
United and England star Beckham has undertaken on behalf of the United
Nations children's agency, UNICEF, that began in Papua New Guinea and
has also included visits to Antarctica, Argentina, Djibouti, Nepal and
the United States. This fixture saw Beckham link up with former United
manager Alex Ferguson, who was coaching the Great Britain and Ireland
side. Another of Beckham's former managers, Carlo Ancelotti, was also
involved as the Italian coached the Rest of the World team.
How i wished it never happened...!