Pelé to join Beckenbauer at children's match for SOS Children's Villages

Pelé and Beckenbauer have both been avid supporters of SOS Children's Villages for many years. The two men have been close friends since their days with US club New York Cosmos. Beckenbauer will referee the opening of the children's match, but will most probably be unable to complete the match due to fractured ribs sustained in a fall last week.

Later in the day in Leipzig, Beckenbauer, president of the German World Cup organising committee, will be unveiling the official mascot of the 2006 FIFA World Cup TM. The "6 villages for 2006" campaign will run until the end of the 2006 FIFA World Cup TM and aims to collect donations for the construction of six new SOS Children's Villages.

These will be built in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Ukraine and Vietnam and will provide homes for hundreds of orphaned, abandoned and destitute children.

"There is nothing more beautiful in the world than giving children a home," said Beckenbauer, the only man to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach. Children participating in this friendly match are in the care of various SOS Children's Villages in Germany and France.

The SOS Children's Village friendly football match for children will kick-off at 14:30 on 13 November 2004 at the Sportschule "Egidius Braun" Leipzig, Abtnaundorfer Strasse 47, 04347 Leipzig, Germany.