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Robert Pires and Michael Ballack to perform Star Sixes draw live on Sky Sports

Star Sixes
Image: Robert Pires and Michael Ballack will perform the eagerly-awaited draw for the first-ever Star Sixes tournament - live across Sky Sports

Robert Pires and Michael Ballack will perform the eagerly-awaited draw for the first-ever Star Sixes tournament - live across Sky Sports.

Frenchman Pires and German Ballack, who will captain their countries at the six-a-side competition for former international players at The O2, London, July 13-16, will be live in the Sky Sports News HQ studio from 11.30am on Friday, with the draw taking place at 12.45pm.

You can also watch the draw across our SkySports.com platforms, and the Sky Sports Facebook page.

London, UNITED KINGDOM:  Tottenham Hotspur's Robbie Keane (R) and Arsenal's Robert Pires compete for the ball during the Premiership football match at High
Image: Robert Pires will be captaining France

Presented by Pitch International (London), in partnership with Football Champions Tour, a leading sports management agency, Star Sixes will reunite the world's greatest players in their national team colours to renew old rivalries over four days of intense competition.

Top seeds England, captained by Steven Gerrard; Brazil, featuring Roberto Carlos; and Germany, also starring Jens Lehmann, will avoid each other in the initial group phase of the 12-team tournament.

But they face the prospect of mouth-watering clashes against the likes of France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Nigeria, Portugal, China, Denmark and Scotland.

Michael Ballack 2002/03
Image: Former Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack will also play

The top two countries in each of the three four-team groups, plus the two best third-placed teams, will progress to the quarter-finals.

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Pires said: "With so many great players involved, Star Sixes is going to be a truly world class tournament and I can't wait to pull on the France shirt again and represent my country.

"I'm really excited to be playing at The O2, which will be perfect for Star Sixes, and it will be great to learn on Friday who we will be up against in the group stage.

"With the calibre of players involved, it's going to be tough whoever we draw."

A general view of the O2 Arena during the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London, England
Image: Soccer Sixes will be at The O2 in London, July 13-16

Other star names on show will include England's Michael Owen, Rio Ferdinand, Emile Heskey and David James, France's Marcel Desailly, Eric Abidal, William Gallas, Ludovic Giuly, Olivier Dacourt and Sebastien Frey, and Spain's Carles Puyol, Gaizka Mendieta and Michel Salgado.

Ex-Chelsea and Barcelona defender Juliano Belletti will be on duty for Brazil, while former Premier League duo Deco and Jay-Jay Okocha will skipper Portugal and Nigeria respectively.

Confirmed Scotland players include Dominic Matteo, Barry Ferguson, Don Hutchison, Paul Dickov, Christian Dailly, Simon Donnelly and Rab Douglas, while Martin Jorgensen and Stig Tofting will line-up for Denmark.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 15:  Steven Gerrard of England celebrates scoring the second goal during the FIFA 2014 World Cup Qualifying Group H match between
Image: Steven Gerrard will lead the England side

Every Star Sixes player will be a fully-capped former international, and with each country selecting a 10-man squad, many, many more star names will be announced in the coming weeks.

Ballack said: "Germany have a good history at tournaments - let's hope we prove it again! We will take our motivation from that and be prepared for Star Sixes.

"It will be great to conduct the draw with Robert and find out who we will be playing. It will be interesting if Germany are drawn in the same group as France!"

Roberto Carlos averaged six goals per season despite playing at left-back
Image: Brazil legend Roberto Carlos will also be playing

Group stage matches will be played during three 'sessions' on Thursday, July 13, Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15 (afternoon session). All 12 countries will play one 20-minute match in each of these sessions.

The evening session on July 15 will feature four quarter-finals, before Star Sixes reaches a pulsating conclusion the following day. With the silverware at stake, the Sunday 16 July session will include two semi-finals, a third-place decider and the Star Sixes final.

Tickets, which start at £30 Adults and £10 under-16s, are on sale now: www.theo2.co.uk/starsixes

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