Not only Abidal, but also Adebayor, Cambiasso or Malouda. Football stars went to Moscow to support the Russians

Famous players forgot that Russia is killing Ukrainians and decided to support the citizens of a terrorist country. Football legends with a calm mind went to Moscow for the so-called Legends Cup. Eric Abidal has already become famous for many incidents as a member of the Barcelona management, but this time he proved that he has no idea what is happening in the world.

The Frenchman took part with other legends of world football in the Legends Cup tournament held in the capital of the terrorist country. His main role, he says, is “to give comfort to children and fans”.

Famous names such as Maicon, Edmilson, Okocha, Karagounis, Adebayor, Alexander Hleb, Malouda, Esteban Cambiasso, Eboue and Asamoah Gyan have taken part in this tournament. This is far from a list of all players.

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The annual Legends Cup tournament, organized by the Russian Federation and supported by the Russian government, was already held in Moscow on February 11-12 at the Megasport Sports Palace. Up to five thousand spectators watched the two-day event.

It attracted a number of former football stars. Eric Abidal even spoke to the media before the tournament. “I expect to have a good time. It will be nice to come back to this city and meet friends. I will play with a smile.“

“For the fans and spectators, it is a nice opportunity and a happy moment. I believe the arrival of us foreigners will be a support and comfort for the children and all the fans and show that everything will return to normal when there are no political problems,” said Abidal, who caused an understandable wave of outrage.

The Russian football legends’ team “unexpectedly” won for the 13th time out of 14 editions of the tournament held since 2009. The Legends Cup is an unofficial, international friendly football tournament of six teams, but is not recognised by FIFA. It is only open to players over the age of thirty-five.

Each match has two halves of twenty minutes each. It is played by five field players and one goalkeeper. Just a reminder. Russian football clubs, like all national teams, are banned from international competitions following the military attack on Ukraine.

Eric Abidal has also said he is proud of Russian footballers like Andrey Arshavin who have made it big in European football. This is despite the difficult environment in Russia and the country’s defensive style of football. Moreover, the former Barcelona sporting director revealed that the Catalan big club has been keeping a close eye on Russian midfielder Alexei Miranchuk in 2019.

In 2020, he left Lokomotiv and moved to Atalanta, only to subsequently go on loan to Torino in 2022. “When I was Barcelona’s chief scout, we were only interested in one Russian – Alexei Miranchuk. In 2019, we came to Moscow and looked at the players at Lokomotiv.”

“We wanted him at Barcelona, but we soon saw what stars we have in the academy. Now I am happy that Barcelona have players like Gavi and Pedri,” he explained the whole situation regarding the potential arrival of the Russian player in the Catalan capital.

Source: Dynamo Kiev, Legends Cup