A winning contribution

The European football community's response to the tsunami disaster in Asia has underlined that football's heart is in the right place.

German game
Germany set the bar high for all charitable efforts with a massive game on 25 January which saw the national team take on a Bundesliga All-Star side in front of 50,000 supporters at the Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen. The game raised a phenomenal €4m, with a further €200,000 pledged by the Germany team.

Competitive match
A competitive and entertaining match saw Bayer 04 Leverkusen's Bernd Schneider and Schalke's own Gerald Asamoah score for Jürgen Klinsmann's side, but the game ended in a 2-2 draw with FC Bayern München's Roy Makaay and Marek Mintál of 1. FC Nürnberg finding the target for the All-Stars.

Norway gives
The German effort was a massive one, but joining forces with the whole national sporting community, similarly heroic efforts have been made elsewhere, such as in Norway where a week of activities saw €2m raised for the victims of the disaster.

Austrian generosity
In Austria, the traditional indoor Hallencup tournament in Vienna - which keeps players fit during the winter break - helped raise €50,000 for the tsunami fund. All seven participants, including winners SV Mattersburg, also donated a portion of their prize money to the appeal.

French gifts
The French sports ministry took a leading role in fund-raising in France, where a massive 46 per cent of the population have made some kind of donation to the various tsunami appeals. The French Football Federation and French league authorities gave €1m each, and there was further activity at club level.

Club activity
Among the many who took action were giants Paris Saint-Germain FC, RC Lens, FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Olympique de Marseille, all of whom held collections among their fans, while a great old French team may yet reunite for another fund-raising match.

Class reunion
Former French international goalkeeper Bernard Lama has called for a reunion of the 1998 FIFA World Cup-winning side. "We played for Algeria [at Zinedine Zidane's request] and for the floods in the south of France [for Laurent Blanc]," said Lama. "I am sure my friends will agree to play for the victims in Asia."

Turkish effort
A big game is also in prospect in Turkey later this week as Istanbul's Inönü stadium stages a game between a Turkish XI, selected by national team coach Ersun Yana, and a team made up of some of the Turkish Superleague's best foreign players, coached by Christoph Daum and Gheorghe Hagi.

Added bonus
The Turkish Football Association has played a major role in organising the game, with the proceeds going to charity. As an additional bonus, fans who keep their tickets for the charity match will be able to use them to gain entry to the forthcoming UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup game between Turkey and Tunisia.

Denmark donations
The Danish Football Association has concentrated on helping the Danish Red Cross in their efforts. "We listened to the message saying that the best way to help is to send money to humanitarian organisations operating in the region," said DBU President Allan Hansen. "Therefore we are donating [€33,500] to the Danish Red Cross."

Selfless Tøfting
In addition to the DBU's contribution, individial Superliga clubs have also made their own donations while veteran Danish international midfield player Stig Tøfting has managed to raise €18,400 on his own by selling some of his old shirts in an internet auction.