Stars shine at tsunami match

By Graham Hunter at Camp Nou

A marvellous night of entertainment which ended 6-3 in favour of a team led by Ronaldinho against Andriy Shevchenko's XI offered a fitting show of football's overpowering wish to aid those affected by the tsunami disaster in Asia.

Feast of football
On a bitterly cold night in Barcelona, 40,000 fans gathered for the FIFA/UEFA Football For Hope match and were treated to a festival of soccer by a glittering group of world stars. The result may have been an irrelevance, but the evening was of great significance as the world's great players took time, gave generously of their talent and made a statement in so doing.

Crowded calendar
Everyone understands that the football calendar is crowded, with the UEFA Cup resuming on Wednesday and the UEFA Champions League restarting next week. As such it would have been very simple for these stars to find 'better things to do' on a cold February night.

Great generosity
Yet they, and their clubs, showed great generosity to turn out, with many teams laying on private jets to allow their stars to participate in the match before returning home late on Tuesday. When the players took to the field it was apparent that they had decided to put on a show as, with little thought for the result, several of the great talents on show simply just started enjoying themselves.

Carefree styles
With no one closing down the man on the ball, no fouls and the freedom of the Camp Nou in which to play, these wonderfully gifted players reverted to the carefree style of play which they probably employed as children or, occasionally, on the training field now. Thus there was a real carnival element to some of the entertainment and those who attended the match were treated to fun and humour.

Zidane mastery
It was all encapsulated in the transformation which Zinedine Zidane managed to inspire in the space of 20 first-half minutes. Jocularly booed in the opening moments due to his status as a Real Madrid CF player in Barcelona, the Frenchman displayed such tricks and style that he had the crowd applauding wildly only moments later.

Ronaldinho tricks
Ronaldinho took the baton and started his flicks and tricks, finding a willing Brazilian partner in AC Milan playmaker Kaká. The FIFA World Player of the Year repeatedly showed off his party piece of looking one way and dinking the ball in the opposite direction. The crowd loved it. Football played with a smile on its face.

Goals galore
Then the goals flowed. Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o opened the scoring thanks to a lovely lay-off from Kaká, not an unpopular way for the first goal to be scored. After clever combination play from Deco and Kaká, Ronaldinho made it two with another outrageously theatrical glance in one direction and a flick into the goal.

Quick strikes
Zidane's lovely floated pass to Alessandro Del Piero allowed the Juventus FC forward to pull one back, but Eto'o restored a two-goal cushion before half-time. Quick strikes from replacements Gianfranco Zola and David Suazo made it 3-3 early in the second half, with the crowd catching the mood on the pitch and engaging in a long Mexican wave.

Wider significance
Henri Camara, set up by Ronaldinho, made it 4-3 before the Brazilian star of the night left the pitch to warm applause having played exactly one hour. Camara and Korean Doo-Ri Cha added further goals but tonight, for once, the result was the last thing on anyone's mind.