There’s plenty to be said for the David Beckham ‘Match for Children’ in aid of UNICEF.
As well as seeing Becks himself return to action at Old Trafford and Sir Alex Ferguson leading out a team for the first time since his retirement, the two teams involved are a who’s who of football legends.
The Great Britain and Ireland team, captained by Beckham, will see the United midfield of Beckham, Butt, Scholes and Giggs reunited on the pitch.
They will be joined by several members of England’s golden generation, including John Terry, Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand.
But there is a grand total of zero Irish players in the so-called Great Britain and Ireland team.
In fairness to Becks, he had hoped to bring Roy Keane into the game which would have been an extremely fun reunion with Fergie, but alas Ireland’s play-off with Bosnia brought an end to that particular dream.
Still, you’d think Denis Irwin would have got the nod.
Zinedine Zidane captains the opposition, with fellow Real Madrid legends Luis Figo and Fabio Cannavaro joining Old Trafford heroes Dwight Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the field.
There’s even room for Beckham’s former LA Galaxy team-mate Landon Donovan, though the American will be competing for his place with a certain Ronaldinho.
Here are the full teams:
GB and Ireland
Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson
Captain: David Beckham
David Seaman
David James
Sol Campbell
John Terry
Phil Neville
Rio Ferdinand
Jamie Carragher
Ashley Cole
Nicky Butt
Paul Scholes
Ryan Giggs
Michael Owen
Andy Cole
Rest of the World
Manager: Carlo Ancelotti
Captain: Zinedine Zidane
Edwin van der Saar
Cafu
Fabio Cannavaro
Alessandro Nesta
Luis Figo
Ronaldinho
Patrick Vieira
Michael Ballack
Massimo Ambrosini
Robert Pires
Dwight Yorke
Patrick Kluivert
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Landon Donovan
