Bordeaux, July 18: French soccer star Zinedine Zidane and his All Star friends were beaten 4-3 by Girondins Bordeaux in a charity match on Thursday (July 17) in Bordeaux. Zinedine Zidane was given a rapturous welcome by a capacity crowd in Bordeaux's stadium when he hosted a friendly match against his former club to raise money for a children's charity in Algeria. The Real Madrid midfielder, who played for Bordeaux between 1992 and 1996, captained a side that included his French compatriots Christophe Dugarry, Laurent Blanc and Bixente Lizarazu. Starting on the substitute's bench was Al-Saadi Gaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Colonel Muammer Gaddafi, who recently signed for the Italian Serie A side Perugia. Zidane's friends took advantage of a poor Bordeaux defence in the first half, establishing a 3-0 lead after 35 minutes. Dugarry, who plays for Birmingham City in the English premier league, opened the scoring in the second minute when he latched on to a cross by Manchester City's David Sommeil. Twenty minutes later, French forward Lilian Laslandes headed in off Dugarry's cross after a fine pass from Zidane. Zidane helped to set up his side's third goal, crossing in to Dugarry who scored off the rebound in the 34th minute.


But two minutes before the interval, Bordeaux pulled a goal back through Pascal Feindouno of Guinea. Five minutes into the second half, Herve Alicarte narrowed the deficit for the home side, his free kick taking a deflection.


After Zidane was substituted in the 57th minute, his side looked ragged and Bordeaux continued to dominate the match. Two minutes after Zidane left the pitch to thunderous applause from the crowd, Jean Claude Darcheville levelled the match, beating Sommeil and Algerian international goalkeeper Lounes Gaouaoui.


Alicarte came close to scoring his second of the night when his header hit the crossbar in the 84th minute. But Bordeaux finally broke the deadlock two minutes from time. The home side were awarded a penalty when Gaouaoui brought down Camel Merien in the area, and Darcheville converted to secure the victory.


Bureau Report