OK, let me get this straight:

1) Two teams play Friday.
2) Neither of them are members of the Premiership.
3) The match (kinda-sorta) means nothing.
4) It’s being shown on ESPN in the United States.

Huh?! Pinch me, I’m dreaming! I just knew that little tournament this summer would be good for something…

The Franz Beckenbauer Abschiedsspiel, or testament match, for der Kaiser; winner of World Cups as a player and coach; winner of 4 Bundesliga titles, 4 DFB Pokals, 3 European Cups, a Cup Winner’s Cup and an International Cup--- all with Bayern Munich. The all-around Deutsche Fussballgott never got a farewell match when he left for the NASL’s New York Cosmos back in 1977, and since he retired from the Bayern Munich front office last year, he’ll get his swan song now.

And what a swan song it is! As it features two of the top 10 (OK, top 5) clubs in the world, rife with international stars and wily coaching.

The Bayern contingent of Dutchmen Arjen Robben, Edson Braafheid and Mark van Bommel; and Germans Hans Joerg-Butt, Miroslav Klose, Philipp Lahm, Thomas Mueller, Holger Badstuber, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Gomez and Toni Kroos all featured in their respective national teams runs in to the World Cup semi-finals.

And, the Real Madrid side is just as glittery: Spain’s Iker Casillas, Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Arbeloa, Xabi Alonso, Pedro Leon and Raul Albiol; Dutchman Rafael van der Vaart and German Sami Khedira were all also featured in the final four.

Whew. And those are just the semi-finalists! When we throw in names like France’s Franck Ribery, Karim Benzema and Lass Diarra; Brazil's Kaka; Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Carvalho and Pepe; and the Argentinians Martin Demichelis, Angel di Maria, Fernando Gago and Gonzalo Higuain… well, the line-ups start to look a bit like bragging.

Now, those are just the names featured in the World Cup! Add a splash of Diarra and a dash of Olic--- just for a finishing touch… Except for the fact that I left out the two coaches who faced each other in last season’s Champions League final: Louis van Gaal and the oh-so-special Jose Mourinho.

Am I done?! Wow. Now I can see why this match is being broadcast on ESPN: It’s a veritable treasure trove of football! Ahem, Premiership who?

Not to say that everyone will make it out on to the pitch. Due to injuries and the worst-timed set of international friendlies EVER, die Roten will be doing without the services of Robben, Demichelis, Kroos, Tymoschuk and Gomez. Butt should be anchoring the sticks, and with Daniel van Buyten ruled fit, we’ll see our eventual starting back four: Lahm, Badstuber, van Buyten and Contento.

Schweinsteiger and van Bommel will be holding down the middle, with Ribery and (I’m gonna go with) Altintop on the wings. I’ll venture a guess and say we’ll see Ivica Olic in the Robben Altintop spot at some point, as he only played a half for Croatia mid-week, and he’s been tipped to play in Arjen’s position while the Dutchman is out on injury.

Up front we’ll see the World Cup goal scoring masters: Klose and Mueller.

Realistically, we’ll see everyone on the bench as well. Louis van Gaal must consider the kick-off, Monday, of the DFB Pokal versus TSV Germania Windeck. Yeah, yeah… it’s Windeck, I know. But, we have gone out early before…

I’ll never know what’s in the mind of the “Special One”, so I can’t begin to speculate the outcome. I only know there’ll be a bit of polish, a ton of splash and 90 minutes of entertaining, showcase football. And the fact that it’s broadcast, in the United States, on the mother-of-all sports channels? Fantastic!

I can’t think of a better tribute to the man, Franz Beckenbauer, who best exemplifies the sport.