Football stars Materazzi and Gomes part of Tbilisi Winter Cup tournament
Stars of international and Georgian football will entertain fans at Tbilisi Olympic Palace. Photo: GFF.
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Retired world football stars including Marco Materazzi, Nuno Gomes and Ivan Campo are in Tbilisi to entertain fans in three days of matches of the Winter Cup futsal tournament starting today.
The selection of renowned players will be involved in six teams facing each other in the competition launched recently with the aim of bringing acclaimed football names to enthusiasts of the sport in the country.
Internazionale legend Materazzi, Portugal international Gomes and Real Madrid defender Campo will be joined by the likes of notable 1990s and early 2000s Liverpool FC players Patrik Berger and Vladimir Smicer in the Georgian capital.
Italian defender Marco Materazzi will be part of the star line-up for three days of matches:
Former Georgian national team players, from current Tbilisi mayor Kakha Kaladze to Georgian Football Federation (GFF) President Levan Kobiashvili and popular forward Giorgi Demetradze will be part of the hosting team for the Winter Cup.
The third edition of the competition — featuring free admittance for fans — will see teams of Georgia, FIFA — the latter taking part for the first time — and Turkey placed in Group A to compete with each other.
Former Liverpool FC midfielder Patrik Berger is set to appear in the competition:
Group B will be comprised of Spain, Ukraine and UEFA.
Beside the spectacle of seeing popular retired players from around the world, the GFF also promised those flocking to Tbilisi Olympic Palace an opportunity for taking photographs with participating football stars.
Georgia won the first two editions of the competition hosted in Tbilisi and will look to achieve a good result in the 2019 tournament between January 11-13.
The Georgian national football team has qualified for the play-off stage of the newly launched UEFA Nations League after winning their fourth match in their group at the tournament.
Georgia’s national football team defeated Latvia yesterday with a score 1:0 in a UEFA Nations League match and boosted its chances to play in the European Championship in the summer of 2020.
Georgian capital of Tbilisi will become the venue of a unique charity match between the all-time football stars who will play at Tbilisi Dinamo Arena on September 29.
The charity match between the world stars united under "World XI” and "GFF XI” teams is scheduled for 9 pm. The money gathered from the sales for the event will be spent on the restoration of the forest burnt in Borjomi Gorge in August.