Football for Hope was a FIFA-sponsored football match played between the Ronaldinho XI team and the Shevchenko XI team on 15 February 2005 at the Camp Nou in Barcelona in support of the relief effort after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami disaster.

Organised by FIFA and UEFA in consultation with the Royal Spanish Football Federation, and with support from FC Barcelona, who provided their stadium and staff free of charge, this benefit match for the victims of the tsunami saw an XI led by Ronaldinho, the 2004 FIFA World Player of the Year, beat a team captained by Andriy Shevchenko, the 2004 European Footballer of the Year, by six goals to three.

FIFA hoped to raise £7 million in support of the tsunami victims, around a third through the game itself. All proceeds from the Football For Hope match went to the FIFA/Asian Football Confederation Tsunami Solidarity Fund.

In 2011, FIFA won the Sport for Health Award at the Beyond Sport Awards ceremony.[1]

The match

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The game itself, which was watched by some 35,000 spectators, was a typical charity affair with a predictable pace, although the fans were entertained by a feast of goals.

Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o and Senegal's Henri Camara both scored two goals, which, along with strikes from Ronaldinho and the South Korean Cha Du-ri, helped the FIFA World Player of the Year's team to victory. Alessandro Del Piero, Gianfranco Zola and David Suazo scored for Andriy Shevchenko's side.

Shevchenko XI

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*Coaches:

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   ESP Iker Casillas
2 DF   BEL Vincent Kompany
3 DF   URU Paolo Montero
4 DF   GEO Kakha Kaladze
5 DF   GHA Samuel Kuffour
6 MF   ENG Steven Gerrard
7 FW   UKR Andriy Shevchenko
8 MF   FRA Ludovic Giuly
9 MF   ITA Alessandro Del Piero
10 MF   FRA Zinedine Zidane
11 MF   ESP Raúl
12 GK   ITA Francesco Toldo
13 MF   GER Sebastian Deisler
14 MF   SUI Johann Vogel
15 FW   TUR Hakan Şükür
16 MF   FIN Jari Litmanen
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF   ITA Gianfranco Zola
20 FW   HON David Suazo
21 DF   FRA Lilian Thuram
22 FW   FRA Thierry Henry
23 MF   ENG David Beckham
GK   ITA Gianluigi Buffon
DF   FRA Christian Karembeu
DF   ESP Carles Puyol
DF   ITA Paolo Maldini
DF   NED Jaap Stam
FW   ITA Roberto Baggio
MF   GER Michael Ballack
FW   ITA Francesco Totti
FW   CZE Pavel Nedvěd
MF   FRA Patrick Vieira
MF   RUS Sergei Semak

Ronaldinho XI

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Coaches:

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   BRA Dida
2 DF   BRA Cafu
3 DF   COL Iván Córdoba
4 DF   MEX Rafael Márquez
5 DF   RSA Lucas Radebe
6 DF   GHA Samuel Kuffour
7 MF   JPN Hidetoshi Nakata
8 MF   IRN Mehdi Mahdavikia
9 FW   CMR Samuel Eto'o
10 FW   BRA Ronaldinho
11 MF   KOR Park Ji-sung
12 GK   CMR Carlos Kameni
13 FW   NGA Obafemi Martins
14 FW   SEN Henri Camara
15 DF   TUN Radhi Jaïdi
16 MF   RSA Delron Buckley
17 DF   CMR Rigobert Song
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF   USA DaMarcus Beasley
19 MF   KOR Cha Du-ri
20 MF   POR Deco
22 MF   BRA Kaká
DF   BRA Cris
DF   ARG Gabriel Heinze
DF   BRA Lúcio
DF   ARG Javier Zanetti
FW   BRA Adriano
MF   ARG Esteban Cambiasso
FW   CIV Didier Drogba
MF   AUS Brett Emerton
MF   GHA Michael Essien
MF   BRA Juninho
MF   CHN Li Tie
FW   BRA Ronaldo

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Beyond Sport Community Awards". Beyond Sport. Retrieved 1 March 2013.
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