Dirk Nowitzki thanked Michael Schumacher for his contribution to sports by hosting a charity match for him in 2016.
Schumacher is one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time, and a close friend of former Dallas Mavericks forward Nowitzki. The two Germans shared a great relationship and took part in several charity football matches together.
Nowitzki in his own right is one of Germany’s greatest-ever athletes. He spent 21 years with the Mavericks in the NBA and led them to the Championship in 2011. Just two years after that, his friend Schumacher suffered a serious head injury while skiing in the French Alps. His health condition worsened, and he hasn’t been seen in public ever since.
Mick Schumacher and Friends played Dirk Nowitzki’s All-Stars in a charity match in Frankfurt that saw them raise €100,000.#C4C22 pic.twitter.com/w9zTdOYqWn
— DW Sports (@dw_sports) August 25, 2022
However, in 2016, Nowitzki organized a charity football match to honor Schumacher’s career. This match took place ahead of the German GP that year and was held at the Coface Arena, home of FSV Mainz. Nowitzki wasn’t the only big name to play in this game as there were several other stars who turned up to show their support to Schumacher.
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Sebastian Vettel joined in to pay tribute to Michael Schumacher
Vettel was also present at the charity game which was termed as ‘Champions for Charity’. The four-time World Champion led the team of drivers Nazionale Piloti for this match. They are a team who are well known for playing a game every year in Monaco ahead of the Grand Prix in the principality.
There’s arguably no one else in F1 today who’s as close to the Schumacher family as Vettel is. The Aston Martin driver considered Schumacher as his idol from a very young age. They even got to share the F1 grid between 2010 and 2012 when they became very close.
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Even after Schumacher’s devastating accident, Vettel has been close to the family. He acts as a mentor to Schumacher’s son Mick, who is in F1 today driving for Haas.
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Charity match was played as thank you to Schumacher
Schumacher has the most number of World Titles in F1 history alongside Lewis Hamilton with seven. He won his first two with Benetton after which he moved to Ferrari. It was at Ferrari where he started an era of dominance and established his status as a legend of the sport.
His last Championship win came in 2004 and in 2006 he retired from the sport for the first time. Schumacher returned to F1 with Mercedes in 2010 to help the team find it’s feet in the sport. After three seasons with the Silver Arrows, he retired once again and this time it was for good.
He has a huge legacy in the world of F1 and sports in general. This is why Vettel and his manager Sabine Kehm both admitted that the match was played to thank Schumacher for his spectacular career.
