Real Madrid legends to tour Tanzania

Former 25 Real Madrid soccer stars are expected to tour Tanzania at the end of August and play against Tanzania Eleven, organisers of the visit disclosed yesterday.
The organiser, Dennis Sebo from TSN group of companies said the team will arrive in the country on August 21 and play against Tanzania Eleven three days later at the National Stadium in Dar es Salaam.
He said while in the country the team will also visit other tourist attractions which include Kilimanjaro Mountain, Ngorongoro conservation area and others.
Sebo said the team has agreed to bring their best legendary players and the club has also accepted to come with Luis Figo and Michael Owen.
Besides Figo and Owen, other legends who have confirmed to travel include Fernando Hierro, Fabio Cannavaro, Michel Salgado, Reuben De la Red, Christian Karembeu, Steve Mcmannaman, Ruud van Nisterlooy, Jose Maria Gutierrez Hernandez 'Guti', Fernando Morientes and Fernando Redondo.
The rest of 13 players might travel but have so far yet to confirm and these might include Roberto Carlos and Zinedin Zidane.

He said five of the current Real Madrid players including Christian Ronaldo, Ika Cassilas and Gareth Bale might also be involved in the trip possibly promoting the Tanzania tourist attractions to the international world.
‘We believe the arrival of the team will be more beneficial to the country’s football and also tourism as the visit will be beamed by Real Madrid media and other international media channels’, he said.
On his remarks captain of the team and former Spain International Ruben de La Red who was accompanied by Rayo Garcia thanked TSN for organizing the trip, saying it is very good as it will help to improve football in the country and also market Tanzania as a preferred tourist destination.
He said this will be the second time for his team to visit Africa and said they agreed to come to Tanzania after noting that the country has many football lovers.
‘We know Tanzania has a lot of people who follow and loves football, especially Spanish football but many of them do not have the opportunity to visit Spain where they can watch live football games. So we believe our visit will give them the opportunity to watch Real Madrid playing in their mother land and also it will be the opportunity for aspiring footballers to learn something’, he said.
On his remarks Tanzania Football Federation (TFF) President Jamal Malinzi said the arrival of Real Madrid legends will help to promote football in the country as it will inspire and motivate local players to work extra hard.
He also said TFF will form a formidable Tanzania Eleven Side saying they will use it as an international strength testing match for local players.
Malinzi also said he hopes that the comings of the Real Madrid team will open doors for young Tanzania football players to play in Spain.
‘This will not just be an International friendly game, but also the opportunity for us to discuss with clubs in Spain so that they can take our young players to their academies, we hope something good will come at the end’, he said.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN