A glittering collection of football stars are to play in the Edwin van der Sar testimonial match in Amsterdam on August 3 to mark the retirement of the respected Dutch goalkeeper.

The former Ajax, Juventus, Fulham, Manchester United and Holland star, who is a Laureus Ambassador, has decided that part of the funds raised from the match will go to support the work of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation in the Netherlands.

Among the football stars who have already confirmed they will play are:

Dennis Bergkamp, Finidi George, Andre Ooijer, Danny Blind, Ryan Giggs, Marc Overmars, Frank de Boer, Fred Grim, Michael Reiziger, Ronald de Boer, Ruud Hesp, Frank Rijkaard, Winston Bogarde, Pierre van Hooijdonk, Wayne Rooney, John Brom, Wim Jonk, Louis Saha, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Nwankwo Kanu, Jaap Stam, Michael Carrick, Patrick Kluivert, Rafael van der Vaart, Phillip Cocu, Dirk Kuyt, Nemanja Vidic, Edgar Davids, Jani Litmanen, Aron Winter, Alessandro Del Piero, Gary Neville, Richard Witschge, Rio Ferdinand, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Boudewijn Zenden, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink,  and Arthur Numan

Staged at the Ajax Arena in Amsterdam, the top class action will involve three matches:

17.40hrs:         Ajax Youth v Manchester United Youth.

18.05hrs:         Ajax 1995 (coach Louis van Gaal) v Holland 1998 (coach Guus Hiddink)

19.00hrs:         Ajax v  Dream Team Edwin van der Sar (coach Sir Alex Ferguson)

Edwin van der Sar spent eight years with Ajax between 1991 and 1999, making 311 appearances for the club, before moving on to Juventus, Fulham and finally Manchester United. He played his last match before retirement in the Champions League final in May, where Manchester United lost 3-1 to Barcelona.

Earlier this year Edwin became a Laureus Ambassador, volunteering his time to support the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. He said: “It is a great pleasure for me to be able to share this big day with the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which is a cause I believe in passionately. I hope the match will raise a substantial amount of money which will help Laureus in the work they do in using sport to improve the lives of young people around the world.”

Laureus World Sports Academy Member Bobby Charlton, the former England football legend, now a director of Manchester United, will be one of the guests at the match.  He said: “Like all the greatest sportsmen, Edwin’s contribution goes far beyond what he gave on the field. He is a true gentleman of sport and he always set a perfect example of dedication and behaviour. A real role model for young people. For him to agree for funds raised from his testimonial to go to charity does not surprise me at all. That is the kind of man he is.”

Chairman of Laureus The Netherlands, His Highness Prince Pieter-Christiaan of Orange, was also keen to demonstrate his excitement about Edwin van der Sar’s commitment to Laureus. He said: “On behalf of the board I am delighted that one of the best goalkeepers of The Netherlands wants to join Laureus as Ambassador. Edwin indicated he is willing to be actively involved in the projects of Laureus in The Netherlands and he supports the Laureus Midnight Futsal Project in The Hague. We hope the donations related to the farewell match of Edwin van der Sar will enable us to organise the Laureus football project also in other cities, so that we can reach even more young people in The Netherlands and contribute to improving their living conditions”.

The Laureus World Sports Academy, a unique association of 47 of the greatest living sporting legends, along with members of the Laureus Ambassadors programme, volunteer their time to act as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, whose mission is to use sport as the means to combat some of the world’s toughest social challenges facing young people today, such as HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, crime, social exclusion, landmines awareness, violence, discrimination and health problems such as obesity.

Since its inception Laureus has raised over €40 million to support projects which have helped to improve the lives of over one-and-a-half million young people. Currently Laureus supports 84 sports-based projects around the world.