EU kicks off 50th birthday with football match

The European commission has unveiled details of a match between an EU all-star XI and Manchester United marking the 50th anniversary of the EU.

Organised with UEFA the football match will see some of the game’s top stars perform on Tuesday in Manchester.

European commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso said the passion for football - the most popular sport in the world - was a force binding Europeans together which the EU should support.

“Football is powerful. Football has the potential to build bridges between people and bring generations together… I think it can be a force for good”, said Barroso as he unveiled details of the game to journalists in Brussels on Monday.

Sharing a stage with UEFA president Michel Platini, the director of Manchester United Sir Bobby Charlton and Italy’s coach Marcello Lippi, Barroso added that he didn’t know if the EU anthem would be played at the beginning of the match.

Platini was also in Brussels to lobby for the creation of a special EU police arm to fight hooliganism and racism in football.

“You have an economic police, an internet police, so we could have also a special police for football,” Platini said.

But Barroso stressed this was an area where Brussels had no direct powers, although he did offer for the commission to act as a mediator between EU governments.

Manchester United will play against a team of international football celebrities including Brazilian stars Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, Swedish striker Henrik Larsson, and Oliver Kahn, the German national keeper.

The all start team will be coached by Italian trainer Marcello Lippi.

Questions over the EU-ness of the squad- with three Brazilians (although Ronaldinho has recently become a naturalised Spaniard) in the starting line up – were dismissed by Barroso.

“It is a positive sign that the EU selection is open to people who don’t have European citizenship,” he told reporters.

French football star Zinedine Zidane, who won the best player award in last year's world cup but fell from grace after assaulting an Italian player in the final game, declined an invitation to play, Lippi said.

Tickets for the game, set to take place at Manchester United's 70,000 seater Old Trafford ground, are sold out.

All proceeds from the match will go to charity projects managed by the Manchester United foundation, Lippi said.

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