cardiff Capital Challenge At The Stadium

In conjunction with the Millennium Stadium and Charles Mitten Sport Promotion, Cardiff Council – as part of its preparations for celebrating its centenary year as a city in 2005 – is backing a football fiesta in the Welsh capital that is guaranteed to whet the appetite of fans across the world.

One of Wales‘ own footballing heroes, Mark Hughes, had a spell at Barcelona and the Spanish giants’ Nou Camp ground has been home to some of the beautiful game’s greatest players – Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradonna, Gary Lineaker, Ronaldo and Luis Figo.

It is much the same story for Italian Serie A side Parma, who took three European crowns in the nineties with Gianfranco Zola, Thomas Brolin, Dino Baggio, Lilian Thuram, Hernan Crespo and Juan Sebastien Veron all featuring for the famous club.

The match, which will be broadcast live on S4C, comes just a week after the Millennium Stadium plays host to Premiership Champions Arsenal and FA Cup winners Manchester United in the FA Community Shield and provides another un-missable date in the already impressive event calendar of Wales‘ national ground.

Cardiff Council will be providing a trophy and prize fund for the challenge match which will feature the likes of Deco, Ronaldinho and Henrik Larsson – and Millennium Stadium general manager Paul Sergeant is also hoping to persuade World Cup referee Anders Frisk to take charge of proceedings.

‘It is precisely this kind of event which we hope the Millennium Stadium will become famous for the world over,’ said Sergeant.

‘We have been given a taste for football of the very highest quality over the past few years of FA Cup Finals, Football League matches and internationals at the Millennium Stadium and this will really be one for the purists.

‘We had a genuine attempt to attract Real Madrid at the start of last season and this match emanates from the level of interest and excitement that surround the prospect of that fixture.

‘Barcelona are truly one of the World’s greatest sides and fans will be able to feast on this football spectacle for as little as £39 for a family of four.’

Tickets are on sale today from the ticket office hotline 08705 582 582 – starting at £29 and £23 for adults and £15 and £12 for children. The family package, which includes two adults and two children or one adult and three children is £39, with an additional adult costing just £10 and any additional children thereafter costing just £6.

The top stars from both sides are contracted to play in the match, but both teams are looking forward to testing themselves against the very toughest opposition in order to kick-start their respective seasons.

‘The response from both Barcelona and Parma when we made the initial contact was two-fold,’ said Mitten, who runs his own company Charles Mitten Sport promotion.

‘Both had heard of and had great respect for the growing reputation of the Millennium Stadium as one of the finest football grounds in Europe and were keen to play here, but both wanted to make sure they would be up against top quality opposition.

‘This will make for a very interesting game and football fans all over Wales and the South West are in for a real treat. When else will you get to see the likes of footballing heroes like Ronaldinho, Deco, Larsson and even Frisk in the flesh in what equates a Saturday night out for the whole family, for less than £40!’

The Millennium Stadium has begun to put together a full calendar of events which will see it flourish long into the distant future, when Wembley is rebuilt and the FA and the Football League have reclaimed their matches to London, Wales‘ national ground expects to continue to show it can put onevents of this high standard.

‘We are working on the ‘Cardiff Capital Challenge’ match becoming an annual event, and we have plenty more ideas in the pipeline,’ added Sergeant.

‘The timing of this game means it is an ideal Saturday night out for men, women, children and families.

‘This is a genuine attempt to transcend sport and compete with the entertainment sector and we think we have the perfect start to an evening out in Cardiff or the perfect family night out.’

We would hope to be thought of by the powers that run football when they come to select venues for UEFA Cup matches, for Olympics and for European and World Championships in every sport.

‘We have our own annual events to maintain, like our very successful New Year’s Eve party, the Speedway and Supercross which will return year on year and we have lots of ideas – such as indoor Windsurfing and invitation rugby matches which are all being talked about at the moment.’

The match will be broadcast live both on S4C in Wales and S4C digidol, which is available throughout the UK free-to-air on Sky Channel 151.

Gareth Davies, Commissioning Editor Sport added, ‘We are delighted that we’ve won the rights to show this glittering sporting occasion between two of the world’s greatest clubs at one of the world’s greatest stadiums.

‘It’s another great scoop for S4C and for our flagship football series Sgorio which provides coverage from both the Italian and Spanish league weekly in its Monday evening programme throughout the season.

‘Winning these rights is a reflection of our role as a key stakeholder in Welsh sport.’

Lord Mayor Cllr. Jacqui Gasson added, ‘Cardiff Council is delighted to support the Cardiff Capital Challenge match, and we welcome the opportunity to showcase Cardiff to an international audience as a preview to 2005 and the many great events that will be staged in the city next year.

BARCELONA: Spanish giants Barcelona are one of the very few football clubs to truly justify the claim of being one of the world’s greatest.

Week-in, week-out, 98,000 fervent Catalonians pack the awe-inspiring Nou Camp to see their heroes in action.

The support doesn’t stop there with 106,706 members and some 1,508 supporters clubs all over the globe. And they have had plenty to cheer about over the years having topped La Liga 16 times, and holding aloft the Copa del Rey a record 24 times. Their international record in Europe is equally impressive, having competed in Europe’s top competitions every year since their inception in 1955, notching up four UEFA Cup wins, a record four Cup Winners’ Cup wins and a historic European Cup triumph in 1992 at Wembley Stadium.

The array of glittering prizes is hardly surprising given some of the names to have pulled on the famous blue and claret colours, a veritable who’s who of the game’s greatest players: Johan Cruyff, Gary Lineaker, Hristo Stoitchkov, Ronald Koeman, Romario, Ronaldo, Andoni Zubizarreta, Luis Figo, Miguel Nadal, Ladislau Kubala, Diego Maradona, Michael Laudrup, Johan Neeskens and of course current Wales’ manager Mark Hughes.

And now, under Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard, a new crop of Barca stars such as Euro 2004 icons Deco and Henrik Larsson, Brazilian trickster Ronaldinho, are ready to launch the proud club into a new era.

PARMA: Serie A outfit Parma may not have the illustrious history of Barca but not many clubs can match their recent rise to the top of the football world.

Founded in 1913, it took 77 years before the northern Italian side found themselves rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Milan clubs, Lazio, Roma and Juventus. But, playing in their famous yellow, blue and white strip, it wasn’t long before their name was known around the world as they won the European Cup Winners Cup in 1993 with the likes of Gianfranco Zola, Thomas Brolin, Dino Baggio and Tino Asprilla in their ranks, narrowly missing out on retaining their prize to George Graham’s Arsenal a year later.

UEFA Cup success followed in 1995 before their highest ever placing was achieved two years later thanks to the sublime footballing abilities of Lilian Thuram, Hernan Crespo, Juan Sebastien Veron.

Since their third European triumph in the shape of the 1999 UEFA Cup, Parma‘s fortunes have taken a downward turn because of the financial collapse of backers Parmalat.

But they still have a wealth of footballing talent on board, the likes of Alberto Gilardino, Daniele Bonera and Sebastien Frey are sure to keep Parma at the top of the world game for years to come.