Damian Lewis at Soccer Aid

source: soccer aid

Damian will make his 4th appearance in Soccer Aid for UNICEF match between England and The Rest of the World this weekend. The match will kick off at 8pm on June 10 Sunday (UK time) at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium. The luckiest ones among us can buy tickets here to see the game at the stadium, and fans in the UK can catch the pre-match festivities as well as the full match LIVE from 6:30 pm on ITV and STV. And we, the mortals, do not seem to have any other option but following the game on social media!

Come meet the teams here and scroll down to select your star player!

Like this!

See Best of Damian Lewis at Soccer Aid video here, and hear Damian and “bung in a tenner” if you can.

HUGE thanks go to Damian for LOVING football and thereby giving me the opportunity to write on a sport that I deeply deeply love! And so why not take the opportunity to revisit Damian in his first three Soccer Aid appearances today to celebrate the fourth one coming up on Sunday?

Now… for those of you that are not familiar with this charity match… What is Soccer Aid?

Wiki‘s description is short but informative: “Soccer Aid is a biennial British charity event that has raised over £15 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The event is a football match between two teams of celebrities and former professional players, representing England and the Rest of the World(RoW).”

Damian is no stranger to Soccer Aid. He played in the first ever Soccer Aid match in 2006 and then returned to Old Trafford two more times in 2010 and 2016.

When asked about Soccer Aid, Damian calls the whole experience “the most ridiculous Boy’s Own fantasy week you could hope for” in an interview:

source: Soccer Aid
source: Soccer Aid

“We trained together for a week then played at Old Trafford in front of 72,000 people. It was the most ridiculous Boy’s Own fantasy week you could hope for.

I have been on the pitch with Maradona, Zola, Zidane, Henrik Larsson and Ryan Giggs. I’ve played in central midfield with Jamie Redknapp and had Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham just ahead of me. It was just so amazing.”

Soccer Aid 2006:

Damian is a part of the England Squad in the first ever Soccer Aid match in 2006. The match takes place on May 27 2006 at Old Trafford in front of 70K+ people. And, as a big football fan, and as a big football fan that has been supporting Argentina in the World Cup since 1982 Spain — OMG! OMG! OMG! Being on the field with Diego Maradona… Well, I cannot even… 🙂 And I am pretty sure everyone that lived long enough remembers “Hand of God” against England 30 years ago. Damian, you are a LUCKY man indeed!

source: Getty Images
source: Getty Images

We first see Damian in training: I will not spoil it for you but you will LOVE this video!

And he is in some serious action at the match:

source: Soccer Aid
source: Soccer Aid

Here’s a detailed score sheet:

source: Wikipedia
source: Wikipedia
source: photobucket.com
source: photobucket.com

And Team England is holding the cup in the end. Hey, look at that HAPPY boy on the very left side!

source: dailydooh.com
source: dailydooh.com

Soccer Aid 2010:

The match between England and the Rest of the World takes place on June 6, 2010 at Old Trafford .

Team England is looking sharp in training!

source: www.robbiewilliams.com
source: www.robbiewilliams.com
source: Spokeo.com
source: Spokeo.com
source: spokeo.com
source: spokeo.com

So 2006 has Maradona, one of all-time best players and, well, my all-time favorite. And 2010 has yet another one of all-time BEST: Zinedine Zidane! It’s just so amazing to see one of my favorite players and a true football legend and my favorite actor in the same shot playing the game they LOVE!

France's Zinedine Zidane (L) vies with British actor Damian Lewis during the Unicef Soccer Aid charity football match against the Rest of the world at Old Trafford in Manchester, north-west England on June 6, 2010. Soccer Aid is the brainchild of Robbie Williams and all money raised through profits from ticket sales and donations made by viewers of ITVduring the match will go to UNICEF’s invaluable work helping children around the world. AFP PHOTO/ ANDREW YATES
source: Soccer Aid

And, hey, Mr. Zidane, as much as I deeply admire you as a football legend, and yeah, I know it is a classic, but still… I just don’t like you pulling a nutmeg on our guy!

That should be the reason why Damian in a recent tweet above is hoping that he is not marking Zidane this time around 😀

That said, how many people can say “Zizou nutmegged me!” 😀

Here is a detailed score sheet for the match:

source: wikipedia
source: Wikipedia

Because the regular match time is over with England: 2 – Rest of the World: 2 they have to go to a penalty shoot out to determine the winner. One thing about the Soccer Aid penalty shoot is that it’s an all-celebrity zone meaning the world famous former football players in the match are not allowed to participate in the penalty shoot – fair enough 🙂

source: Soccer Aid
source: Soccer Aid

When it is Damian’s turn for the penalty shoot, both England and Rest of the World seem to have missed 3 penalties each — which means if Damian scores for England, he will take his team a step closer to winning… Haha I love the way I dramatize a charity football match!

I’m sure you want to re-live that moment Damian scores the penalty! But first just focus on the look Damian gives to the goal keeper as he comes for the penalty for a second… I mean, it’s just such an out of this world, confident smirk that I can’t help love it… 🙂

damiansmirk

And here comes Number 8… Watch it here!

So even though Damian has recently tweeted that he never scored in Soccer Aid; he, in fact, did.

Yes, it may be a penalty shot, but a goal is a goal! And the celebration is real!

damianpenalty

Soccer Aid 2016:

The match between England and the Rest of the World takes place on June 5, 2016 at Old Trafford. Damian gets to the play in the last 20 minutes of the match and England takes the cup: 3-2. As we take a look at the highlights, we once again feel how much we miss that beard 😀

Generated by IJG JPEG Library
Generated by IJG JPEG Library

Thanks to social media, we can catch up with our favorite guy warming up for the match…

…and chatting “hamstring rubbing” with Virgin Radio UK!

Team England is ready!

https://twitter.com/socceraid/status/738695529719300096

https://twitter.com/socceraid/status/737648545197641728

Damian gets into the field at minute 70, and oh man, he STORMS it, complete with a Cruyff turn!

Generated by IJG JPEG Library

Generated by IJG JPEG Library

And, yes, I may be biased, but take a look at some tweets from football fans below and see how much they appreciate Damian’s talent on the field.

And now… LOOK AT THAT!

Here is the original Cruyff turn for you! And for those of you that are not familiar, Johan Cruyff was one of the best that played the sport. Ever.

And here is Damian with his own Cruyff turn. BRILLIANT! And, again, I may be a bit biased but football fans seem to agree!

You can see the full match here and check out the eye candy we have collected below!


karwaitang

davidhogan2
alexlivesey hogan4davidhogan

Well-deserved cup and champagne, too!

We hope history repeats itself this Sunday. Best of luck, Damian!

Author: Damianista

Academic, Traveler, Blogger, Runner, Theatre Lover, Wine Snob, Part-time New Yorker, and Walking Damian Lewis Encyclopedia :D Procrastinated about a fan's diary on Damian Lewis for a while and the rest is history!

2 thoughts on “Damian Lewis at Soccer Aid”

  1. I know nothing about “football” (I know a lot about my kind of football), so thank you for this! It looks like a lot of fun. I looked at the teams and noticed Gordon Ramsey is playing on the other side, and one of the new companions on Doctor Who (Bradley Walsh) is playing for England. I finally have a Doctor Who-Damian connection!!

    1. Thank you! Huge thanks go to Damian for loving the sport as deeply as I do and giving me an opportunity to write about it 🙂 Haha yes finally you have a Dr. Who – Damian connection!

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