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SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -French World Cup star Zinedine Zidane will head an International side set to play an Australian team in a soccer exhibition on June 1 at Sydney Football Stadium.
Zidane will lead a team featuring a number of his teammates from the French side that won the 1998 World Cup, including Marcel Desailly and Robert Pires, along with Danish international Jesper Olsen and Switzerland's Flavio Celestini.
The team, managed by France's World Cup-winning coach Aime Jacquet, will take on a side composed of stars from Australia's 1997 World Cup qualifying squad including Paul Okon, Tony Vidmar, Craig Foster and Stan Lazaridis and coached by Frank Farina.
Australia's 1997 qualifying campaign ended in elimination in the final match against Iran in Melbourne.
Australian Tim Cahill, recovering from a foot operation, on Friday described Zidane's visit as the "biggest dream ever."
"David Beckham was here (in Sydney) recently and he's one of the most iconic and marketable players in the world," said Cahill. "But 'Zizou' is one of the biggest players in the world. He is poetry in motion, and he so passionate about football."
Zidane, 36, was red-carded for headbutting an Italian opponent in retaliation for verbal taunts near the end of the 2006 World Cup final in Germany. Italy won the final and Zidane retired from topflight competition.
