Football Legends Roll Back the Years to Crush F1 Drivers in Charity Match

Ahead of this month's Italian Grand Prix, we learned the answer to a question that has plagued sports fans for generations: who would win in a five-a-side football match between a team of current Formula One drivers and a group of 40-something Champions League legends?

The answer, quite unsurprisingly, is that the former footballers would mercilessly crush the drivers. 22-10, as it turned out, with the ex-pros showing particular dominance in the early going. Truly, this was as one-sided a match as you are likely to witness.

The game was backed by Heineken – sponsors of the Italian Grand Prix – who donated €1,000 for every goal scored in the match to the Italian earthquake disaster fund. That meant €32,000 raised over the course of the contest, and explains the pros taking it easy on the F1 drivers during the second half.

The game's official title – the Heineken Champions of the Grid – was apt, with a pitch set up on the start-finish straight at the Monza circuit. With the main grandstand overlooking the action, it was a unique combination of football match and racing venue.

Despite their professional careers being over, the footballers were still an impressive bunch, what with their combined trophy haul of six Champions League titles and four World Cups. Brazilian legend Dida made for an imposing figure between the sticks, blocking almost the entire net with his vast stature. Outfield, Spain's Michel Salgado and Frenchman Christian Karembeau represented the more defence-minded players, while another French duo – Robert Pires and Davide Trezeguet – were a handful going forward.

Perhaps surprisingly, it was Karembeau who displayed the silkiest footwork, dancing through grand prix drivers half his age and finishing cooly on more than one occasion.

The F1 team mixed youth and experience: two-time world champion Fernando Alonso captained the side, and was the veteran representative at 35. He was joined by Daniel Ricciardo, Sergio Perez, Jolyon Palmer, and 18-year-old wunderkind Max Verstappen.

All exhibited impressive football skills, the kind that would leave the ordinary player on their arse during a casual Thursday night astrotruf game (Perez did produce a particularly bad open-goal miss, but we'll forgive the Mexican). Ultimately, they were unfortunate to come up against such mighty foes.

Alonso is perhaps the most natural footballer, though he spent half of the contest either fouling or being fouled by fellow countryman Salgado in a long-running display of gamesmanship. Verstappen belied his reputation as a man bred purely for racing by displaying a deft touch and powerful header, while Palmer wellied the ball a few hundred metres down the track in a classic example of English defending.

And despite their drubbing, the F1 drivers can take comfort from the fact that, were a group of modern footballers asked to challenge retired racers on the track, the result would be equally one-side. Perhaps that's one to set up for next year.