Ronaldinho, Rooney and Casillas to face off in Seoul's Nexon Icons Match in September

Ronaldinho, Rooney, and Kaká will headline the Nexon Icons Match in Seoul on Sept. 13-14, featuring legendary players facing off in a showdown between strikers and defenders.

Former professional footballers Ronaldinho and Wayne Rooney will play in the Nexon Icons Match at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in Mapo District, western Seoul, in September. [NEXON]

Ronaldinho, Rooney and Kaká — some of the biggest names in football from the 2000s — will descend on Seoul next month for the second edition of the Nexon Icons Match.

The two-day event will run from Sept. 13 to 14 at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul, with organizers unveiling a star-studded lineup that has already set fans buzzing.

The inaugural Icons Match took place in October of last year, when 35 retired legends split into two sides — FC Spear, composed entirely of forwards, and Shield United, made up exclusively of defenders.

Billed as a clash of “sword and shield,” the concept drew more than 64,000 fans to Sangam-dong, western Seoul, and the livestream accumulated more than six million viewers worldwide.

Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger and former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez will face off in the Nexon Icons Match. [NEXON]

This year, the rosters are even more glittering. Ronaldinho, the Brazilian maestro nicknamed “the Alien” for his otherworldly dribbling, will make his first appearance for the Spear side.

Wayne Rooney, the “bad boy” of English football and Manchester United’s all-time top scorer, will reunite with former teammate Park Ji-sung.

Kaká, Didier Drogba and other household names return for a second year, bringing Spear’s confirmed squad to 15 players, with one more “world-class” attacker expected to join soon.

Kaka, a Brazilian former professional footballer, will play at the second Nexon Icons Match in September. [NEXON]

Shield United, meanwhile, has already finalized its 16-man squad, featuring some of the toughest defenders of their era.

Nemanja Vidic and Ashley Cole anchor the back line while Iker Casillas makes his return to goal. The former Spain captain retired in 2020 after suffering a heart attack, but he accepted Rio Ferdinand’s call to guard the net once more. He will face off against fellow goalkeeping great Gianluigi Buffon of Italy, who lines up for Spear.

Arsène Wenger, the former Arsenal manager known as “the Professor,” will lead Spear, reuniting with Thierry Henry from their 2003-04 “Invincibles” campaign.

Shield will be managed by Rafael Benítez, remembered for orchestrating Liverpool’s “Miracle of Istanbul” in the 2005 Champions League final.

Football legends are set to play at the second Nexon Icons Match in September. [NEXON]

The Icons Match was born at a casual dinner between the gaming company Nexon and the football YouTube channel Shoot for Love. Nexon publishes and operates the online football game EA Sports FC, formerly known as FIFA, for PC and mobile in Korea and Japan.

“What if we gathered all the legends and had strikers face defenders?” one person asked. That joke quickly turned into reality.

Organizers even flew to Brazil to personally convince Ronaldinho to join this year, while Park Ji-sung, captain of last year’s losing Spear team, pushed hard to set up a rematch. Park has already strengthened the squad by bringing in Gareth Bale, the “Speed Racer” from Wales, who only retired in 2023.

Ronaldinho signs an agreement to participate in the second Nexon Icons Match [NEXON]

Gareth Bale, a Welsh former professional footballer, will play at the second Nexon Icons Match in September. [NEXON]

Last year, Eden Hazard, who had previously said, “Give me the ball and I'll score,” was marked out of the game by Carles Puyol. Now 34, Hazard has been training and dieting hard for redemption, while Puyol keeps fit by mountain hiking with his large dogs.

Pre-sales for the Icons Match started at 6:00 p.m. Thursday while regular ticket sales will start on Friday.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY PARK LIN [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]