Pirès reunites Zidane, Blanc and 1998 World Cup winners for his testimonial at Metz

Robert Pirès will bring together a host of 1998 World Cup winners and former global stars on Tuesday, October 6 at the Stade Saint-Symphorien in Metz for a testimonial organized eleven years after the end of his professional career. The former French international, 52, chose to celebrate the event where it all began for him in Ligue 1, during the 1992-1993 season.

The Pirès All Stars team, under the guidance of Aimé Jacquet, will notably field Laurent Blanc, Marcel Desailly, Youri Djorkaeff, Christian Karembeu, Frank Leboeuf, Bixente Lizarazu and Lilian Thuram. Zinédine Zidane, expected on the bench for France the day before against Belgium, is not expected to be present for this match.

Opposing them, two legends teams will share the pitch. FC Metz Legends will include Emmanuel Adebayor, Miralem Pjanic, Mamadou Niang and Rigobert Song, while Arsenal Legends will call upon Jens Lehmann, Laurent Koscielny, Samir Nasri, Mathieu Flamini, Bacary Sagna, Mathieu Debuchy, Pascal Cygan and Sylvain Wiltord.

Kickoff is set for 20:55. The evening will begin at 19:45 with a special edition of Jour de Foot, presented from the pitch at the Stade Saint-Symphorien, before Late Football Club takes over after the match in the same setting.

Pirès built a career that took him from Metz to Olympique de Marseille (1998-2000), then Arsenal (2000-2006), Villarreal (2006-2010), Aston Villa (2010-2011) and finally FC Goa in India (2014-2015). It was in the Gunners’ colors that he won the Premier League title during the “Invincibles” season in 2003-2004 and won the Silver Ball in 2002.