England to host Over 35s World Cup

A NEW Over 35s World Cup is set to be held in England this summer, with greats such as Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and Rivaldo being lined up to play. Plans are in place to launch an eight-team tournament involving past World Cup winners England, Uruguay, Argentina, France, Brazil Germany, Italy and Spain. Seven matches are scheduled to be staged in the same stadium over one week at the start of June. Although the venue is still being finalised, Mail Sport understands talks have taken place with some of the Premier League’s biggest northern clubs. The competition is being organised by the Elite Players Group (EPG) — a group of former top-level footballers and sports businessmen who joined forces last year. Under their proposals, only players who are aged 35 or over and have been capped by their country or made 100 top-flight appearances will be eligible to take part. The captains of each country are founders of the EPG. Steve McManaman is set to lead England and the other skippers are Diego Lugano (Uruguay), Esteban Cambiasso (Argentina), Christian Karembeu (France), Emerson (Brazil), Kevin Kuranyi (Germany), Marco Materazzi (Italy) and Michel Salgado (Spain). The provisional squads seen by Mail Sport include five former Ballon d’Or winners — England’s Michael Owen, Brazil’s Kaka, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo along with Italy’s Fabio Cannavaro. England are said to have already enlisted Ashley Cole, Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand, David James, Frank Lampard and Robbie Fowler. Other stars being lined up include Henry and Roberto Carlos.