We don't know about you heatworld citizens, but we were very excited for the run-up to the fourth Soccer Aid. The charity event, broadcast by ITV tonight, was set up by Robbie Williams and his friend Jonathon Wilkes back in 2006 in a bid to raise money for children suffering in the world's poorest countries - and now, in 2012, it's still going strong! So far the cheeky chaps have managed to raise a whopping £7.5 million, not too shabby... and tonight they're going for the £10 million!
And last week, we were lucky enough to meet some of the stars involved in the game during their training day and after looking at the line-up, we conclude this could be the glitziest Soccer Aid to date!
So firstly, Will Ferrell was very funny trying to play down his football skills, although we secretly think he'd be the darkhorse. Will joked,
“I don’t know why people are bigging me up. All I have is… well, the proper attitude, I’m out here, keeping my mouth shut and just playing the game – I’m just a regular professional footballer. A good team member. I did do some secret training, in Afghanistan. With Special Ops. Yes"
The comic obviously couldn't help but mention the character that shot him into the UK limelight, Ron Burgandy,
“If Ron Burgandy was here, he wouldn’t make it on to the pitch. He’d be drunk on Scotch by now.”
Will is playing in the rest of the world team alongside Ed Norton, Woody Harrelson, Gerard Butler, Joe Calzaghe, Patrick Kielty, Mike Myers, Sergio Pizzorno, Gordon Ramsey, James McAvoy and Michael Sheen as their captain.
Representing England were John Bishop John Bishop, Marvin Humes, Jason Isaacs, Paddy McGuinness, Aston Merrygold, Olly Murs, Mark Owen, Ben Shepherd, Jamie Theakston and Jonathan Wilkes with Robbie Williams as Captain with their respective professional players.
Actor Jason Isaacs (you'll know him as Lucius Malfoy from Harry Potter) was very confident that England would clinch the title as he revealed the teams warm up techniques included watching The Notebook and have a team cry. Jason confessed to us,
"The reason why England will win is because there has not been one serious word said between any of us. Whereas with them [the ROW], they don’t even speak the same language. And no one can understand their manager!
"Plus Ben Shepherd is our secret weapon. He went on a diet of wheatgrass and raw hedgehog or something and now he’s wearing a 34C bra and has a 12 pack...Our prep beforehand is we all listen to Barry Manilow and then have a cuddle. Then we watch The Notebook and cry together. It works!"
We also managed to sidle up next to those very handsome JLS boys Aston Merrygold and Marvin Humes and tried our best to try and get some wedding goss out of the newly engaged singer. When we asked the boys who would win a match out of JLS and One Direction, they confessed,
Aston: "There’s no competition, we’d completely win a football competition between us and One Direction."
Marvin: "I’ve seen Niall on the football pitch and he claims to be a massive sportsman but he’s not that good. JLS would have the one up on 1D."
After trying to get some sneaky wedding info off of Marvin, Aston stepped in saying that as a friend he couldn't let Marvin reveal any special details, so it'll have to be a surprise for us all!
The man of the hour however was frontman Robbie, who after watching the charity event grow in success, was very excited for today's event. He also confirmed that he'd be organising a solo tour very soon, saying,
“Oh that WILL be happening, definitely, definitely!
"But it’s different though, because when the ball arrives at your feet, you don’t know what you’re going to do - but with gigs I know all the words."
Robbie did admit that he might be at a disadvantage this time around as he was too ill with his back problems to train as much as he'd have liked to.
He admitted, “Normally I’d put in about three months before hand in training but I’ve been a bit ill so I’ve not been able to train. We have a lot of love for them and we’ll do our talking on the field. And you know what? We’ll give them a hug when they’ve lost...I don’t think. Will Ferrell understands that he doesn’t get five goals per goal though…”
We also nabbed Olly Murs for a cheeky chat and he had quite a bit to say about the One Direction tour...
UPDATE: So did the right team win tonight? Tell us heatworlders! And tell us who YOU thought the fittest shorts-wearing celebrity footballer was...
If you'd like to support the lads in trying to hit the £10 million mark, then you can support the Soccer Aid teams by texting DONATE to 70442 and tune into ITV1 TONIGHT at 6pm to watch the game.