Bolt faces Williams in Unicef soccer match

PARIS: Multiple Olympic champion Usain Bolt will line up opposite British pop star Robbie Williams in a charity football match at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium, the Jamaican revealed on Tuesday.

Now retired, Bolt had given a teaser of what was to come on Twitter on Monday, claiming that he had signed for a football club and would reveal all 24 hours later.Well, his new team is the Soccer Aid World XI — a motley crew put together to help raise funds for the United Nations Children’s Fund, Unicef.

Not only had football-mad Bolt, the fastest man alive, been recruited for the match, but he comes straight into the team as captain, with former Take That star Williams leading out an England side in opposition.

Speaking on a publicity clip published by Bolt, 31, on his Twitter account on Tuesday, Williams, decked out in an England shirt, says the match will feature “celebrities, legends and a brand new captain for Soccer Aid World XI”.

Manchester United fan Bolt then appears and adds: “Robbie, let me entertain you,” in a reference to Williams’s hit 1998 song of the same name. The promotional video features the likes of Brazilian great Ronaldinho and Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, as well as American comedy actor Will Ferrell. Soccer Aid aims to raise money to help children around the world and organises charity matches featuring celebrities and former football stars.

This match will be played on June 10, just before the the World Cup gets underway in Russia. Bolt is an eight-time Olympic champion, 11-time world champion and holds the world records in the 100 and 200 metres. Williams is the best-selling British solo artist in the United Kingdom.