to meeting all of the fans who have given me love and support throughout my career."I'm glad that I can appear in this match to help support those who suffered from the disasters and the towns and cities that are rebuilding."The 37-year-old is especially attached to the Land of the Rising Sun, having played there for Juventus in the 1996 Toyota Cup (now Club World Cup) as well as the 2002 World Cup. Following the disasters, he raised around €250,000 through his charity.Del Piero has reportedly attracted offers from clubs in Japan, Thailand and the United States since leaving Juventus in May.Saturday's match will kick off at 12:00CEST.The Dawning of Our Downfall

Forty-five years ago tomorrow, on Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the first artificial earth satellite, dubbed Sputnik. It was a shot that was not just heard, but literally went, round the world. It set off a train of political events that lumbers down the track (albeit slowly and expensively) to this very day.

In 1957, not even the most visionary of the science fiction writers would have predicted that man would be walking on the moon only a dozen years later.

Even more inconceivable would have been the notion that, having done so, he would stop a scant three years after that, and not return for decades, and perhaps forever, or at least the foreseeable future. Or that three decades after the last treading