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Ruiz versus Maradona in Guatemala on Saturday

February 23, 2007 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
FC Dallas News Release


FRISCO, Texas (Friday, February 23, 2007) - FC Dallas forward Carlos Ruiz has been invited to participate in a celebrity game against one of the all-time soccer greats - Diego Armando Maradona - in the Argentine's own touring "Showbol" event this weekend in Guatemala. Ruiz traveled to his native Guatemala on Fri. Feb 23 and will play in the celebrity game on Saturday at Cementos Progreso Stadium in Guatemala City. He returns to Dallas on Sun. Feb. 25 and will travel with his FC Dallas teammates on Monday to Curitiba, Brazil to continue preseason training.

Maradona's Showbol event is a 6v6 indoor soccer game consisting of two 25-minute halves and played on a 40x20 yard field. Maradona's team also includes former Argentine national team stars Sergio Goicochea, Matías Almeida, Juan José Borelli, Javier McAllister, Fernando Gamboa, Alejandro Mancuso, Sergio Zárate, Sebastián Rambert and Gabriel Amato.

Ruiz will lead the Guatemalan squad that also includes Edwin Westphal, Víctor Hugo Monzón, Édgar Estrada, Erick Miranda, Claudio Rojas, and brothers Julio and Jorge Rodas.

The Showbol, which originally started as a friendly exhibition between Argentina and Brazilian greats, has become a traveling event. The visit to Guatemala will be the Showbol's third in Central America, having previously visited El Salvador and Honduras. The Showbol was also staged in Mexico in November.

The game in Guatemala is being tagged by some media outlets as "10 versus 20", referring to the well-known jersey numbers of Maradona and Ruiz respectively.

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