BEIJING, June 8 -- A Total of 170 World Cup-winning players including Pele and Diego Maradona will parade at the Allianz Arena before Friday's opening match between Germany and Costa Rica.

    The pre-match ceremony will see also Pele, who won the World Cup three times with Brazil, and German supermodel Claudia Schiffer carry the World Cup trophy into the stadium.

    The tournament will be opened officially by Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel, following a welcome speech by the president Horst Koehler

    FIFA president Sepp Blatter, speaking at a news conference Tuesday, said it was FIFA's idea to invite all the players who had won the World Cup since 1930 to the opening parade.

    "As far as I know, 170 have said they will be there," said Blatter.

    The entire 22-man squad of Germany's triumphant 1974 campaign will also be together at the event which, according to weather forecasts in Bavaria, will be blessed by the return of summer after days of cold and wet conditions.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)