Soccer Aid

2008 Soccer Aid
Tournament details
Host country	England
Dates	7 September
Venue(s)	1
Final positions
Champions	England (2nd title)
Runners-up	Rest of the World
Tournament statistics
Matches played	1
Goals scored	7 (7 per match)
Attendance	45,000 (45,000 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Alan Shearer (2 goals); Paolo Di Canio (2 goals)
Best player	Craig David
	← 2006 2010 →

2006 Soccer Aid
Tournament details
Host country	England
Dates	22 May - 27 May
Venue(s)	2
Final positions
Champions	England (1st title)
Runners-up	Rest of the World
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	14 (3.5 per match)
Attendance	71,960 (17,990 per match)
	2008 →

Soccer Aid
	; The present logo
Format	Reality show
Presented by	Ant & Dec (2006–2008); Dermot O'Leary (2010–present); Kirsty Gallagher (2010–present); Orlando Bloom (2010-present); Clive Tyldesley (2006-present)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	8
Production
Running time	30 to 90 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV, ITV2 and TV3 Ireland
Original run	22 May 2006 – present

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Soccer Aid is a British charity event which has raised £2.6 million in aid of UNICEF UK. The event is a football match between two teams comprising celebrities and World Cup legends, one representing England and the other the Rest of the World. Television coverage began on ITV on 22 May 2006 in a show presented by Ant & Dec. Soccer Aid was initiated by Robbie Williams and Jonathan Wilkes. The event returned on 7 September 2008 and again on 6 June 2010. The Rest Of The World are the current champions and beat England in 2010.

[edit] 2006: Series 1

ITV1, 22–27 May 2006

[edit] Event schedule

22 May 2006 – Start of the television coverage, presented by Ant and Dec. Rest of the World defeats England in a penalty shoot-out
23 May 2006 – Practice match: England 1–0 England Legends (Craven Cottage, London)
24 May 2006 – Practice match: Rest of the World 3–7 Scotland Legends (Craven Cottage, London)
25 May 2006 – Rest of the World defeats England in a Football Quiz
26 May 2006 – Coaches name starting line-ups for the match
27 May 2006 – Soccer Aid Match: England 2–1 Rest of the World (Old Trafford, Manchester), attendance 71,960

The practice matches were over 60 minutes, with the Soccer Aid match over 90 minutes.

There are currently no plans for the tournament to become an annual event; however there has been a recent increase in the number of charity/legends games, and a more formalised system of fixture, similar to that of the Masters indoor soccer, may be introduced.

The competition was organised on behalf of UNICEF UK, with profits from the matches along with donations and sponsorship donated to UNICEF programs in Africa, Asia and the Americas.

England beat the Rest Of The World 2–1 with the goals coming from Les Ferdinand and Jonathan Wilkes which put England into a two goal lead but a handball inside the area from David Gray resulted in a penalty converted by Diego Maradona. Wilkes won the Man of the Match award.

[edit] England squad

Main article: England national Soccer Aid football team

The England squad was managed by former England national football team manager Terry Venables, assisted by David Geddis and Ted Buxton. The original squad comprised 16 players, with Bryan Robson added later. A handful of the players, notably Angus Deayton, had previous celebrity international experience from the previous month's England v Germany: The Legends match in Reading, which Germany won 4–2. The England squad went into the match with no major injury worries. Their victory over a squad of ex-England internationals from the 1960s to 1990s on Tuesday morning was tempered with defeats to the Rest of the World in a penalty shootout and football quiz.

Celebrities

Legends

[edit] Rest of the World squad

The Rest of the World squad was managed by Ruud Gullit, with Gus Poyet as his assistant. Captain Gordon Ramsay injured his leg in the early training sessions and was considered doubtful for the match. The original squad of 16 players, which later saw 2 changes, was supplemented by the addition of Diego Maradona during the build up to the competition. Lothar Matthäus had appeared in the England v Germany: The Legends match the previous month. The Rest of the World squad was wracked by injuries and withdrawals, and suffered from a lack of players. Desailly, Matthäus, Schmeichel and Ginola all arrived with only 2 or 3 days to spare before the match; Ginola arrived during half-time of their warm-up defeat to the Scotland Legends on Wednesday afternoon, and Diego Maradona only joined the squad on the day before the match. Also, Craig Doyle and Brian McFadden went into the match carrying knocks, which led to management members Ruud Gullit and Gus Poyet coming on as substitutes on Wednesday and in the match itself.

Celebrities

Gordon Ramsay (captain)
David Campese
Patrick Kielty
Eddie Irvine (withdrew and was replaced by Gareth Thomas)
Gareth Thomas (replacement for Eddie Irvine)
Ben Johnson
Sergei Fedorov
Brian McFadden
Alastair Campbell
Craig Doyle
Alessandro Nivola
Michael Greco

Legends

Other notable participants
The match was refereed by Pierluigi Collina, the Italian referee considered by many fans as the best referee of all time.^[2]

[edit] The match

27 May 2006 19:45 BST	England	2 – 1	Rest of the World	Old Trafford, Manchester Attendance: 71,960 Referee: Pierluigi Collina
	Ferdinand 14' Wilkes 20'		Maradona 75' (pen)

Starting Lineups
England

Seaman (Theakston 45)
Gray
Williams (Barnes 85)
Adams
Shephard
Lewis
Wilkes
Gascoigne (Le Saux 55)
Walsh (Redknapp 55)
Ferdinand (Deayton 52)
Kelly (Robson 64)

Rest of the World

Schmeichel (Kielty 45)
Doyle (Johnson 45)
Desailly
Matthäus (Dunga 45 (Poyet 73))
Greco
McFadden (Thomas 8)
Campbell (Ginola 45 (Gullit 55))
Nivola
Fedorov
Ramsay (Zola 11)
Maradona

[edit] Timeline

First Half
0 min: England get the match under way

3 min: Following a defensive mistake by Greco, Ferdinand hits the side-netting when it seems easier for him to score

5 min: Ferdinand draws a great save from Schmeichel following a cross by Wilkes

7 min: Set up by Gascoigne, Kelly sends a curling shot just over the bar

8 min: Substitution (ROW): Thomas for McFadden, who has struggled from the outset with a thigh injury

9 min: A right-wing free kick from Gascoigne causes some panic in the ROW penalty area, but three defenders, under pressure from Adams, manage to scramble the ball away

12 min: The ROW's first real foray into the England box ends as Williams tackles Nivola

13 min: Schmeichel makes a great save from Walsh's powerful drive from 10 yards

14 min: England 1–0 Rest of the World: On a quick break following an ineffective ROW corner, Gascoigne delivers a great cross from the right wing into the six yard box, where the arriving FERDINAND heads past Schmeichel, giving the goalkeeper no chance

20 min: England 2–0 Rest of the World: Maradona plays in Nivola down the right wing; his cross is met by the head of Ramsay, but Seaman saves easily. England go right down the other end, and a jinking run from WILKES sees him beat a couple of defenders and then calmly chip the ball past Schmeichel

24 min: Matthäus's free kick is comfortably claimed by Seaman

25 min: Nivola goes past Williams, but his attempt to beat Seaman at his near post causes the England custodian no problems

28 min: The impressive Wilkes wins a corner off Thomas

29 min: Kelly's long-range shot is turned round the post by Schmeichel

30 min: Thomas barges into Kelly, a foul that would earn a professional a yellow card. All it gets is an England free kick

32 min: Walsh blocks a long-range drive with an arm. He tries to convince Collina it was his forehead; the ref is having none of it

33 min: From the ensuing free-kick, Matthäus sends a cross/shot across the face of goal from a tight angle

36 min: Desailly goes down heavily following a challenge from Lewis. The free kick is given, but a cynic might suggest the tackle predated the fall by a number of seconds

37 min: Maradona plays in Ramsay down the left. Ramsay is fouled by Gray just outside the box. Ramsay screams at Collina for a penalty, but the Italian is unmoved. The free-kick is then wasted

40 min: The attendance for the match is announced as 71,962

42 min: Gascoigne dives in on Nivola, but again the free kick comes to nothing as Ramsay is caught offside

43 min: Fedorov goes on a powerful run, beating three defenders before Adams puts in a tackle

45 min: Schmeichel flaps at a Gascgoine free kick, but the ROW defence manages to clear. Schmeichel appears to have dislocated a finger on his left hand in the incident. He is fit to continue

45 min +1: Pierluigi Collina brings the first half to an end, with England well on top. However, with the rules of the contest dictating that both goalkeepers will be substituted by celebrities at half time, the game is far from over

Second Half
46 min: Substitution (ENG): Theakston for Seaman

46 min: Substitutions (ROW): Kielty for Schmeichel; Dunga for Matthäus; Ginola for Campbell; Johnson for Doyle; Zola for Ramsay. The rules are changed on the fly to allow each team five ex-pros on the pitch at once. Maradona takes the captain's armband

51 min: Theakston's throw out goes straight to Ginola, who hooks a shot far over the bar

52 min: Substitution (ENG): Deayton for Ferdinand

54 min: Ginola is left limping by a strong challenge by Gray

55 min: Substitutions (ENG): Le Saux for Gascoigne; Redknapp for Walsh

55 min: Substitution (ROW): Gullit for Ginola

62 min: Wilkes plays in the overlapping Le Saux down the left flank, but his cross eludes everyone in the area. The ball finds its way to Zola inside the centre circle in his own half, but his attempt to lob Theakston drifts just wide

64 min: Substitution (ENG): Robson for Kelly

66 min: Wilkes fires a drive from the left corner of the box over the bar

69 min: Shephard makes a run into the box, but is penalised for a push

71 min: Zola beats five England defenders and hits a drive low to Theakston's left, but Theakston gets down well to save

73 min: Substitution (ROW): Poyet for Dunga, who has been struggling with an injury for the last few minutes

75 min: England 2–1 Rest of the World: Gray handballs in the box; Collina waits a long time before awarding the penalty, which MARADONA converts with ease

77 min: Wilkes shoots from 25 yards, but with little power and all along the ground, causing Kielty no trouble

82 min: Great footwork from Deayton is followed up by a through ball to Lewis, but he gets no power behind his shot and Kielty saves comfortably

84 min: Gullit shoots from the left corner of the box, but the ball clips off the outside of his boot and goes for a throw in

85 min: Substitution (ENG): Barnes for Williams. The England captain gets a standing ovation as he departs

87 min: Theakston commits himself to a challenge on Gullit outside the box; he is left stranded but Zola shoots far over from 15 yards

90 min: Wilkes makes another run into the box similar to his goal, but this time he is tackled

90 min +1: Collina blows the final whistle, and England have beaten the Rest of the World by two goals to one