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Keen to shine a spotlight on the underrepresented footballing talent in Pakistan, Brazillian football legend Ronaldinho, Manchester United's Ryan Giggs and five other international football stars arrived in Islamabad on Saturday.
The five international players accompanying Ronaldinho and Giggs are: Dutch star George Boateng, former England goalkeeper David James, former French players Robert Pires and Nicolas Anelka, and Portugal's Luis Boa Morte.
Brazilian Roberto Carlos is expected to arrive later in time for the first seven-a-side exhibition match in Karachi.
The visiting players will play two exhibition matches in the country. Ronaldinho and Ryan Giggs are each to lead one of the two teams. In addition to the international stars, the teams will also consist of Pakistan's emerging football talent.
The football stars arrived at the Benazir International Airport, in on a special plane and were escorted out of the airport to a private hotel in Islamabad under tight security.
Later in the day, the players met Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa who thanked them on their visit to Pakistan. According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations, the army chief remarked that “sports promote peace and your visit is most welcomed by all Pakistanis especially young footballers”.
The players said that “Pakistan is a beautiful country and they look forward to enjoy the trip”, read the ISPR statement.
The two matches will be played in two of Pakistan's largest cities; the first game is scheduled to kickoff tonight at 8:30pm in Karachi at the Abdul Sattar Edhi National Hockey Stadium.
The players will then head to Fortress Stadium, Lahore to play the second game of the weekend on Sunday at 5pm.
DawnNews
