France stars Zidane and Evra out of charity match after Paris attacks

MANCHESTER, Uni t ed Kingdom: France football stars Zinedine Zidane and Patrice Evra have withdrawn from a charity football match at Manchester United’s Old Trafford ground on Saturday also featuring David Beckham following the terror attacks in Paris.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 Cupwinner Zidane and Evra, a former United player, 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 schedule 3: 00pm local (1500 GMT) kick- off time, there were two blank spaces on the Rest of the World substitutes bench where the names of Zidane and Evra, now with Italian side Juventus, should have been.

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.

There was no immediate explanation from organisers as to why Zidane and Evra had pulled out.

A post on Manchester United’s official Twitter feed said “players will observe a minute’s silence wear black armbands at the # MatchForChildrenin tribute to those who lost their lives in Paris”.

Meanwhile a separate United statement said: “Our sincerest condolences go out to those affected by last night’s tragedy and our thoughts are with the citizens of Paris. — AFP