Retired French soccer star Zinedine Zidane with Ahcene Adlani (right) in Madrid.
May 1st, 2009. Soccer star Zinedine Zidane with Ahcene Adlani (centre) and Zidane’s brother Farid (right) in Madrid. May 1st, 2009. France’s Zinedine Zidane head buts Italy defender Marco Materazzi during extra time of the FIFA World Cup final on Sunday in Berlin, Germany. France’s captain Zinedine Zidane — the Mark Messier of French soccer. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena) Bringing retired soccer star Zinedine Zidane to Canada this summer for a series of charity games will probably cost about $1 million, says the British Columbia man who is organizing the event. But Ahcene Adlani says it will be worth it if Zidane’s appearance in Canada generates the same level of fan interest as recent games involving other top players like David Beckham. “I’m just praying that everything goes o.k.,” said Adlani, a Burnaby, B.C.-based soccer coach, who has persuaded the French superstar to play a series of games in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
(Tickets for the Toronto game – to be played at BMO Field on June 25th – went on sale this week. The series moves to Montreal on June 28th, and wraps up on Vancouver on July 4th.).