We witnessed plenty of drama and excitement and goals at Stamford Bridge this season, and Soccer Aid proved no exception, with the England XI winning a highly entertaining and high-scoring affair, 6-3. In fact, the nine total goals were the most ever in this charity match, now in it’s 13th edition.
If you squinted just right — and ignored the throwback sandy pitch, which is in the process of being renewed after a long season and recent youth tournaments — the quality on display in the first-half of this exhibition featuring a mix of retired professionals and celebrities could’ve been mistaken for a proper match at times. Both Petr Čech and David James were beaten inside of the first fifteen minutes, with returning idol Eden Hazard placing a free kick just out of James’ reach to equalize after Joe Cole had opened the scoring.
The World XI would then take the lead, with Alessandro del Piero replicating his classic finish from the 2006 World Cup, before Ellen White became the first female goalscorer in the event’s history by equalizing for England at the half-hour mark: set up by some wonderful skill from a non-injured(!) Jack Wilshere.
With the “celebrity goalkeepers” entering the fray in the second half by rule, it was always going to come down to which side would give up fewer shooting opportunities … so with Gary Cahill (and Ashley Cole!) at the back, it were Frank Lampard’s England who would prevail over Mauricio Pochettino’s World XI. Nice to see Super Frank back on the winning side at the Bridge!
And all that entertainment aside, over £15m was also raise for UNICEF, which is tremendous for such a great cause, and puts the event’s lifetime donation total to over £100m now. Congrats, all!