Steve Nash shows off footwork in 'Showdown in Chinatown'

Jason Kidd, as he often does, backpedaled on defense, anticipated his opponent’s next move, and swooped in to intercept a pass in his own half. The Mavericks point guard then pushed the ball up the sideline to lead his team’s fast break.

Out of the corner of his left eye, he spotted a teammate streaking forward and, as always, delivered to him a pass with pinpoint accuracy. The subsequent shot hit nothing but net.

But Kidd wasn’t on the basketball court. He was on a soccer field in Manhattan. The beneficiary of Kidd’s assist? Salomon Kalou, a forward from the Ivory Coast who stars for Chelsea in the English Premier League.

Kidd and Kalou were just two of the many star athletes that congregated in Manhattan last week to play in an eight-on-eight charity soccer match dubbed “The Showdown in Chinatown” by its hosts Steve Nash, point guard for the Phoenix Suns, and Claudio Reyna, the captain of the Red Bulls.

“I wanted to bring some of my friends from basketball and soccer together and create a great atmosphere in downtown Manhattan,” Nash said of the event. “Everyone had a great time, and the guys put on a great show for the fans.”

The match, as well as the live auction in SoHo that followed, was organized to benefit the individual foundations of Nash and Reyna, both of which focus on helping children in underserved communities. As Reyna said, “I hope everyone had a good time. But, above all, this was really for the kids in the inner city.”

The two athletes faced off against one another on the pitch for 60 minutes, backed by teams that also included NBA stars like Baron Davis, Raja Bell, and Leandro Barbosa, and soccer players such as Thierry Henry, Juan Pablo Angel, Jozy Altidore, Greg Berhalter, Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman.

The names on display attracted a gigantic horde of enthusiastic fans and curious spectators to the small field. Those who could not see over the numerous rows of observers resorted to climbing trees, lampposts, and basketball hoops to get a better view.

Those lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the action were treated to a match that mixed sublime skill and light-hearted antics.

Davis, despite being on the lower end of the group’s spectrum of skill, quickly endeared himself to the crowd, playing the match in thick-rimmed glasses and a backwards baseball cap, putting Barbosa in a headlock, and earning a yellow card for swatting away a goal-bound shot with his hands. The Warriors guard even scored a goal of his own in the first half.

“I played in the seventh grade,” Davis said of his soccer background. “I was a forward. I used to score all of the goals because I was quicker than everyone.”

The soccer artistry, meanwhile, was provided by Henry, who became available for the match after his French team was knocked out of Euro 2008 by Italy last week. The Barcelona striker was always in the middle of the action and turned on the style in the second half, drawing from his deep bag of flicks and tricks, much to the delight of the crowd.

“Thierry brought the level of buzz from here to here,” Reyna said, moving his down-turned palm from his waist up to his chest.

Afterwards, Nash and Reyna were quick to declare the event a huge success, and both already seemed to be making plans for another match next year. Reyna said that several other star players, including Lionel Messi, Clarence Seedorf, and Hidetoshi Nakata, expressed interest but could not play this year because of other commitments. The next match, he suggested, could be even bigger.

And how would they deal with a larger, rowdier crowd?

“We might need a stadium,” Reyna offered, presumably only half-joking.

--Andrew Keh

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