Gambia international, Sanna Nyassi, will line up against some of the biggest names in world football when his American Major Soccer League side, Seattle Sounders, take on Spanish giants, FC Barcelona, in a charity match at the Qwest Field Stadium today (Wednesday).

The friendly is part of a new coalition supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation called United Against Malaria. The coalition is using the spotlight of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to raise awareness and commitments globally to keep up the fight against malaria. The last time Sanna Nyassi had malaria, he thought he might not live.

The symptoms felt familiar - he had a high fever and couldn't hold down food. He'd had a bout with it a few years back at age 16, but this time it was worse. Fortunately, he got treated and recovered after a month. The following year he was on his way to Seattle, recruited from his native Gambia to play soccer for the newly formed Seattle Sounders FC. Now he is one of several players raising the issue as part of a growing effort to link the world's most popular sport with humanitarian causes.

Those efforts are being spearheaded by the No 1 soccer club team in the world and the world's largest charitable foundation. Nyassi and his team will compete with world champions FC Barcelona on Wednesday in Seattle, but off the field they are united against a common opponent: malaria.  Nyassi, 20, worked with Nothing But Nets, a campaign to supply bed nets to people in poor countries."I was so lucky to survive it," said Nyassi. "Some people couldn't." "I think soccer is the best way to sensitize people about malaria. It's the most popular game in the world. It's going to make a very big difference."