I HAVE always been a bit suspicious about charity events in which celebrities get together to raise money for the poor of other countries. Soccer Aid pitched England and Rest of the World teams made up of celebrities and former football stars against each other at Old Trafford, the aim being to raise as much money as possible for vulnerable children as part of a UNICEF campaign.
The likes of Woody Harrelson, Mike Myers, Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo turned out for the Rest of the World, while Ralf Little, Paddy McGuinness, Jamie Redknapp, Teddy Sherringham and Robbie Williams played for the England side.
Star of the whole event, though, was probably Gavin and Stacey’s James Corden, who, if ever the part of a football manager comes up in a film, is a dead cert.
His facial expressions, hurling of water bottles to players and exaggerated pep talks were better than quite a lot of what happened on the pitch.
In the studio, Dermot O’Leary conducted interviews with guests Sam Allardyce, Al Murray and Louise Redknapp.
Harry completed the family involvement as England manager, with Kenny Dalglish coaching the opposition.
Well over 62,000 people attended and everyone took, what was actually not a bad game, very seriously.
The Rest of the World ran out winners on penalties after a 2-2 draw.
The likes of Little and Jonathan Wilkes were among the best on the park, with Jamie Theakston performing well in goal.
All well and good so far then, and an extremely worthwhile cause.
But — and I’m not sure how other people feel about this sort of thing — it makes me cringe just a little to see millionaire and, in some cases, multi-millionaire “stars” running around enjoying themselves and, for some, fulfilling a dream of playing at Old Trafford, and, at the same time, making no doubt well-intentioned pleas for the public to donate.
Robbie Williams, slightly out of breath after just being substituted well into the second half, told an interviewer that they needed to raise £2.5 million.
Yes, that’s £2.5 million. Again, call me cynical, but a quick on-pitch whip round would have sorted that.
Obviously, there’s another point to this sort of event and that is the one that says raised awareness means an increase in donations of money, and that’s a good thing.
http://www.blackpoolcitizen.co.uk/leisure....d__ITV1
Жаль, конечно, что Робби и Ко не выиграли. Но всё равно главная награда для них - это огромная благодарность за ту реальную помощь, которую они собрали благодаря этому матчу! А посему 
Оле-оле-оле-оле, наш Робка - чемпион!!! 
:) 
