Full Soccer Aid Teams Revealed
Sunday 7 September
Kick-off 19:30
Legendary Portuguese attacker Luis Figo and Brazilian goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel sign up for Soccer Aid 2008, completing the line up of legends and celebrities set to compete in the big match on September 7th at Wembley Stadium.
Taffarel replaces injured goalie Peter Schmeichel, who after injuring his back during training, will now act as goalkeeping coach to the celebrity contenders.
The celebrities and world cup legends who have made it into Harry Redknapp’s England team and Kenny Dalglish’s Rest of The World squad can today (September 2nd) be revealed as:
ENGLAND:
HARRY REDKNAPP (MANAGER)
BRYAN ROBSON (ASST MANAGER)
DAVID SEAMAN (GK)
GRAEME LE SAUX
JAMIE REDKNAPP
DES WALKER
TEDDY SHERINGHAM
ALAN SHEARER
JAMIE THEAKSTON (GK)
TOM FELTON
JONATHAN WILKES
BEN SHEPHARD
ANGUS DEAYTON
KYRAN BRACKEN
GARETH GATES
CRAIG DAVID
DANNY JONES
CHRIS FOUNTAIN
REST OF THE WORLD:
KENNY DALGLISH (MANAGER)
IAN RUSH (ASSNT MANAGER)
CLAUDIO TAFFAREL (GK)
LUIS FIGO
FRANCO BARESI
JAAP STAM
ROMARIO
PAOLO DI CANIO
PATRICK KIELTY (GK)
GORDON RAMSAY (CPT)
KENNY LOGAN
ALASTAIR CAMPBELL
NICKY BYRNE
GILLES MARINI
BRIAN LARA
RODRIGO SANTORO
GETHIN JONES
BRIAN McFADDEN
Ticket information
For tickets please contact www.itv.com/socceraid or call 0871 230 7148
Alternatively, limited concession tickets (£5 off all full paying adult tickets, subject to availability) will be available from the Wembley Stadium Box office from Saturday 6 September.
To buy tickets at the Stadium, please visit the box office on Level B1 situated below the Bobby Moore Statue.
The Box Office is open for sales from Saturday 10am to 4pm and Sunday from 12noon to 9pm (half time).
Cash sales will also be available at turnstile entrance J on Sunday. Turnstiles open at 5.30pm
Please note tickets can not be purchased by calling Wembley Stadium by phone.
Ticket collection
Any tickets purchased via the Seeticket hotline or website will now need to be collected from Wembley Stadium Box Office before 6pm on Sunday. The ticket collection booths are located on the level below the Bobby Moore Statue.
Tickets can be collected on Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Please note tickets must be collected before 6pm
Training for the teams starts tomorrow (Wednesday) as the players look to prove they’ve got what it takes to make the starting line-up for the big match, presented by Ant and Dec and broadcasting live on ITV1.
Gordon Ramsay returns to captain Rest of the World, but team England have a new skipper. Robbie Williams is passing on his captain’s armband, and the responsibility of deciding who will take his place is in the capable hands of manager Harry Redknapp.
As the originator of the Soccer Aid concept, Robbie is confident that again the match will be of huge benefit to UNICEF’s work around the world.
Robbie Williams says: "Being able to help so many people through Soccer Aid was one of the true highlights of my life. I’m gutted that this time round my knee isn’t up to it so unfortunately I’m out of the game. But I hope that everyone involved has the time of their life like I did, raises loads of money for UNICEF and that the best side wins.”
Tim Lovejoy and Louise Redknapp will bring all the action from the sidelines while pundits and special studio guests will deliver their live analysis of the beautiful game.
A GUIDE TO THE SOCCER AID STARS
England
Manager
Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp is the current manager of Portsmouth in the English Premier League. His son is Jamie Rednapp and he is also uncle to Chelsea player Frank Lampard. His playing career began at West Ham United and then later on in the years went into management.
Assistant Manager:
Bryan Robson
Robson is best known for playing in midfield for Manchester United, where he was the longest serving captain in club history. Robson began his playing career at West Bromwich Albion, before moving on to Manchester United. Towards the end of his playing career he moved into management
Celebrity Players:
Kyran Bracken
Former England rugby union player Kyran played for Saracens, Bristol and Waterloo RFC. He studied law at Bristol University who he played rugby for and then became a qualified solicitor. He had a trial at Liverpool FC where he scored three goals but favoured playing rugby. Bracken starred in and won the second series of hit ITV1 show ‘Dancing on Ice’ and has recently put the finishing touches to his own ice dance show.
Craig David
Craig David has released four studio albums and performed at countless venues such a St Mary’s football stadium in his home town of Southampton. At 19, he become Britain’s youngest solo artist to reach number one. Craig is releasing his Greatest Hits later this year.
Angus Deayton
Actor, writer, musician, comedian and television presenter Deayton is best known as the presenter of the satirical panel game Have I Got News for You. He showed early promise as a footballer, and had a trial with Crystal Palace. Deayton played for the England team in Soccer Aid 2006.
Tom Felton
Actor Tom Felton is best known for his role as Draco Malfoy, the arch enemy of wizard Harry Potter in the series of movies based on the books by JK Rowling. He has also starred in films including ‘Anna and the King’, ‘The Borrowers’ and ‘Second Sight.’
Chris Fountain
Actor Chris Fountain is best known for his role as Justin in teen soap Hollyoaks for which he won Best Actor at the British Soap Awards 2008. He wowed TV audiences in the most recent series of Dancing on Ice and was the runner up, coming a close second to Suzanne Shaw. Chris also competed in the Dancing on Ice live tour.
Gareth Gates
Singer Gareth Gates first came to the spotlight in ITV talent show Pop Idol where he finished as runner up. Signing with Sony BMG he had a string of hits including Unchained Melody and Spirit in the Sky. Gareth most recently appeared in ITV1’s Dancing on Ice and toured with the show after the series finished.
Danny Jones
Danny Jones is one of the lead vocalists and guitarists in the British pop punk band McFly. Jones has co-written all three of McFly's studio albums with his fellow band members. In March 2005 he took part in a Tsunami football match for charity.
Ben Shephard
One of GMTV’s main presenters, Ben also currently presents Who Dare Sings His previous presenting credits include MTV, The Bigger Breakfast, T4 and The Xtra Factor. A competitive sportsman he boxed and won against singer Lemar in March 2008 for BBC One's Sport Relief. Ben also took part in Soccer Aid 2006.
Hugo Speer
Hugo began his acting career appearing in TV series The Bill and Heartbeat before his first notable appearance as "Guy" in the film The Full Monty. He has appeared in Men Behaving Badly, dramas Clocking Off, The Last Detective, Boudica and The Rotters' Club , as well as the 2005 BBC adaptation of Dickens' Bleak House. Most recently he appeared alongside Martine McCutcheon in Echo Beach.
Jamie Theakston
Television and radio presenter Jamie Theakston currently presents Hearts Breakfast show on London’s Heart 1062 with Harriet Scott. He has presented sports and entertainment programmes including Live & Kicking, Top of the Pops, The Priory, The Games and The Oscars for Sky. Last year Jamie produced and presented The Search on Channel 4.
Jonathan Wilkes
TV presenter Jonathan Wilkes and Robbie Williams first came up with the idea for Soccer Aid one evening at the pub and the resulting event was Soccer Aid 2006 which raised £2.6m for UNICEF and its partners.
As a teenager, Jonathan was part of the Everton youth team but then was released and subsequently had trials for Chester and Crewe.
Legends:
Jamie Redknapp
Former professional footballer Jamie Redknapp has played for England and Liverpool. He started off his career at AFC Bournemouth in 1989 but then made the move to Liverpool where he spent 11 incredible years. After a time at Tottenham, he went to Southampton where he subsequently retired due to injury. Jamie is now a BBC football and Sky sports pundit.
David Seaman
Former English goalkeeper Seaman most notably played for Arsenal and most recently with Manchester City. He was awarded the MBE in 1997 for services to the sport. During his time at Arsenal he won many medals including three league championships (1991, 1998, 2002), four FA Cups (1993, 1998, 2002, 2003), the League Cup in 1993 and the European Cup Winners Cup in 1994. During this time he also played in the 1998 and 2002 World Cups, and Euro 96 and Euro 2000, and is England's second-most capped goalkeeper with 75 caps. He took part in ITV’s Dancing On Ice and has since toured with the series.
Alan Shearer
Footballing legend, Shearer is hugely missed on the field. Although he is best known for his days at Newcastle, Shearer’s talent became recognised hugely during his time at Blackburn after his successful time at Southampton where he scored a Hat-Trick on his debut. Shearer has been named as the PFA player of the year and is the Premier Leagues all time scorer. Following retirement, Shearer has founded the Alan Shearer Academy Scholarship.
Teddy Sheringham
Sheringham began his professional career at Millwall in 1982 at the age of sixteen. A striker he has had a hugely successful career winning almost every domestic honour available with his clubs, most notably the treble with Manchester United. He also represented England at international level.
Graham Le Saux
Le Saux was signed for Chelsea in 1987, made his debut for the club two years later and had become a regular by the 1990-91 season.
In August 1997, Graeme became the most expensive defender in English football when he returned to Chelsea in a £5 million deal. He was capped 36 times for England.
Des Walker
Des Walker was signed by Nottingham Forest in 1982 as an apprentice. Brian Clough gave Des his debut in March 1984 at the age of 18 and Forest ended the season in third place. In 1989 Forest won their first trophy for nine seasons when, with Des in outstanding form, they won the League Cup. He enjoyed a long association with Sheffield Wednesday, making more than 300 appearances under eight different managers, becoming a fans' favourite and team captain. His international career ended with 59 caps, including all seven of the games at Italia 90.
Rest of the World
Manager:
Kenny Dalglish
Former Scottish international football player Dalglish was famous for his successes with Celtic in the 1970s and with the English club Liverpool in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2004, Kenny and his wife Marina founded The Marina Dalglish Appeal to raise money for breast cancer funding
Assistant Manager:
Ian Rush
One of Liverpool’s finest strikers and former Captain of Wales, Ian Rush joins Soccer Aid for the first time this year. His attacking partnership with Kenny Dalglish at Liverpool is regarded as being one of the greatest and most successful in the history of English and European football, and the partnership is reunited for Soccer Aid 2008.
Celebrities:
Nicky Byrne
Nicky is part of the hugely successful Irish band Westlife who have sold over 40 million albums worldwide. Before joining the band, Nicky was a professional football player, joining Leeds United as a goalkeeper in 1995. He was a squad member of the FA Youth Cup winning team of 1997. After two years at Leeds he returned to Ireland and played minor league football.
Alastair Campbell
Campbell served as Director of Communications and Strategy for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2003. Before this he was became the Political Editor of the Daily Mirror, the largest circulation left-wing paper. He played in Soccer Aid 2006
Patrick Kielty
TV presenter and stand up comedian Patrick Kielty is known for presenting shows such as the BBC’s ‘Fame Academy’ and ‘Love Island’ for ITV1. Patrick played in the 2006 Soccer aid as a Goal Keeper for ROW replacing Peter Schmeichel.
Brian Lara
Brian Lara is a professional cricketer for the West Indies and holds the record for the highest individual test score from a batsman. He retired from professional cricket in 2007.
Gilles Marini
Gilles Marini exploded onto the big scene as Dante, the casanova in 2008’s “Sex and the City” movie. Gilles has been seen on television in Ugly Betty,Dirty, Sexy Money, Criminal Minds, Windfall and in several soap operas including The Bold and the Beautiful and Passions.
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay returns to Soccer Aid to captain the Rest of the World team. A world renowned chef, Ramsay has fronted successful TV programmes including Hell’s Kitchen, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and The F Word. He now fronts Hells Kitchen in the US. Ramsay is one of only three chefs in the UK to maintain three Michelin Guide stars for his restaurant. Ramsay was chosen to play football for Warwickshire at the age of 12. His football career was marked by a number of injuries and due to this turned his attention onto cooking.
Kenny Logan
Kenny plays wing for London Scottish and Scotland, Kenny and his wife Gabby Logan also took part in the fifth series of the BBC celebrity dancing programme Strictly Come Dancing.
Gethin Jones
Gethin is a television presenter best known for co-presenting Blue Peter; He has made a couple of guest appearances in Doctor Who (2006 and 2008). In 2007 Jones was a contestant in Series 5 of Strictly Come Dancing, achieving third place.
Santiago Cabrera
Santiago is best known for his role as Isaac Mendez in the popular NBC series Heroes and his preparing to hit the UK screens as Lancelot in the forthcoming BBC drama series Merlin.
Rodrigo Santoro
Rodrigo played the character of Karl, the "enigmatic chief designer" and love interest of Laura Linney's character, in the romantic comedy Love Actually, alongside Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley and Rowan Atkinson. He also starred in 300 as Persian emperor Xerxes.
Legends:
Japp Stam
Now retired, Dutch footballer Stam was nicknamed the Dutch Destroyer on the pitch. He was twice voted Best Defender in the 1999 and 2000 Champions League.
Franco Baresi
Franco Baresi is an Italian youth team coach and former football defender with A.C. Milan, acknowledged as one of the greatest defenders ever to play the game.
Romario
Or Romário de Souza Faria, was the center half that helped the Brazil national team to win the 1994 FIFA World Cup. Known as one of the most prolific strikers of the 1990’s he had successful tenures with PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona. He retired at 42, well beyond the years of many a professional.
Paulo Di Canio
Having played for two of Italy’s biggest clubs (Lazio and Juventus), Di Canio joined the Premiership with Sheffield Wednesday. He was the club’s top scorer in the 97/98 season becoming a firm favorite with fans. Di Canio is famous for an incident on the pitch in 1998, where he pushed referee Paul Alcock to the ground after being sent off.
Luis Figo
He is one of the best soccer players in the world, having played for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Sporting Lisbon. He won the prestigious 2000 European Player of the Year Award, as Europe's top player as selected by France Football. He also won the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year award. He made headlines around the world when he left his beloved FC Barcelona for arch rivals Real Madrid.
Claudio Taffarel
Cláudio André Mergen Taffarel (born May 8, 1966 in Santa Rosa, Brazil) is a former football (soccer) goalkeeper, who backstopped Brazil to victory at the 1994 World Cup.