David Beckham victorious in charity spectacular

Beckham’s side were on the offensive from the starting, taking the lead with a goal made in Manchester

OLD Trafford dazzled with past heroes of the game on Saturday afternoon as David Beckham’s Great Britain and Ireland XI beat the Rest of the World XI 3-1 in a UNICEF charity game.

Some of the world’s best past greats, including Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Luis Figo, Clarence Seedorf and Ronaldinho turned back the years in the ‘Match for Children’ charity affair.

Beckham’s side were on the offensive from the starting, taking the lead with a goal made in Manchester: Beckham sent in a classic cross from the right, which Scholes leaped onto as he headed past former United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sa to open the scoring.

The Great Britain and Ireland XI were two goals to the good on 60 minutes as former Liverpool striker Michael Owen bundled home his side’s second, with the World XI – coached by Italian tactician Carlo Ancelotti – finally pulling a goal back through Dwight Yorke after good work from America’s Landon Donovan on the wing.

Yet the Sir Alex Ferguson-coached British and Irish XI team made sure of the entertaining victory as Raimond van der Gouw’s error allowed Owen to double his tally and secure a 3-1 win for Beckham’s charges.

The star-studded line-ups for the charity spectacular were as follows:

Great Britain and Ireland XI: James, Carragher, Terry, Campbell, P Neville, Beckham (c), Butt, Fletcher, Giggs, Scholes, Crouch

Subs: Seaman, Cole, Sinclair, McAllister, Smith, Owen

Rest of World XI: Van Der Sar, Cafu, Couto, Silvestre, Figo (c), Seedorf, Pires, Park, Ronaldinho, Kluivert, Solskjaer

Subs: Van der Gouw, Hierro, Donovan, Yorke. Kickoff.com