WORLD CUP-WINNING former Brazil defender Roberto Carlos is set to get a taste of English Sunday league football on Friday.
Shrewsbury side Bull in the Barne United, named after a local pub, will have the 48-year-old ex-Real Madrid full-back making an appearance for them after winning a charity ‘Dream Transfer’ raffle on eBay in January.
Carlos is set to be involved on Friday as Bull in the Barne face fellow Greenhous Shrewsbury and District Sunday League Division 1 team Harlescott Rangers in a friendly.
His professional playing career, which included over 100 caps and winning the 2002 World Cup with Brazil and 11 seasons and three Champions League triumphs with Real Madrid, most recently saw him have a spell in India with Delhi Dynamos in 2015.
When it was announced in January that he would be turning out for Bull in the Barne for one game, Carlos said in a statement: “I’m excited to play for Bull in the Barne in Shrewsbury, paying homage to when I nearly signed for Birmingham City in the 90s, which is very close by.
“I’ve heard that the team’s been down a number of players this season, so here’s hoping my training is enough to help them up their game and bring what Bull in the Barne’s fans want to see!”
Bull in the Barne manager and goalkeeper Ed Speller said: “Roberto Carlos is one of those legends who’s inspired so many young players’ love of the game.
“My jaw absolutely dropped when we found out Bull in the Barne won the Dream Transfer and he’ll be playing alongside the team in Shrewsbury.
“It should be a right laugh for him to come see what we’re made of, with some tense free-kicks and hopefully no dodgy tackles!”
The raffle also saw East Sussex team Pevensey and Westham land the services of former England, Chelsea and Juventus forward Eni Aluko for one fixture.
That game took place last month as Aluko came off the bench in Pevensey and Westham’s friendly loss to Ringmer AFC.
Money raised from the raffle, open to anyone associated with a Sunday league team and costing £5 to enter, has gone to Football Beyond Borders, a charity that helps disadvantaged young people in the community.
BBC – Thierry Henry, Fabregas and Alan Shearer -an absolute snooze fest
@Ronan O Connor: Fr. Stone had also been lined up for the knockout stages!
@T Dawg: Fr Stone. Blast from the past. Lol.
Can’t wait for Roy Keane to sow it into England after they go out in the quarter finals
@Eoin Fitzgerald: i preferred it the first 5 times he did it. His rants can be funny but he’s poor pundit in my opinion, Little tactical insight, overly negative and its obvious he doesn’t do much research. On the flipside Neville’s forensic analysis of everything to the enth degree can get a bit old too. There’s a great interview with Brian Clough about pundits from the 80′s and robbing people of their ability to form their own insights and opinions about the game. I’m beginning to agree with him more and more as time goes on. Most of them are at best boring, at worst infuriating, and very few justify not going out to make the tae at half time.
@Fred spins kdb: I get the impression that there is no such thing a good pundit for you. If they’re analytic that’s not good. If they speak their mind, that’s not good either. I must say I like roy Keane as a pundit. I actually enjoy listening to what he has to say. Speaks the truth whether people like it or not.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: maybe you are right. I think Carragher is good.Neville is way too preachy and believing of his own hype these days for me. I get the sense he believes he is the man who single handedly took down to the super league, as if working for sky sports is no way connected to gouging money from the everyday football fan. I think Roy can be a good listen to at times, but he doesn’t have much to offer in terms of genuine insight, he kind of lost me with his ‘everyone who can trap the ball is an international these days’. Tearing the back off players becomes kind of less edgy and more boring and predictable if you are doing it all time.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: think Brian Kerr is good aswell. Unreal knowledge and engaging speaker.
I’m guessing RTE still has all the euro games yeah?? Even though we didn’t qualify
@Aidan: Yeah they do with Richie Sadlier, Kevin Doyle and Damien Duff.
@Eoin Fitzgerald: what a bore ! ITV for me
@Gary O: RTE panel hasn’t been the same since Liam, Johnny and Dunphy left (Didi too, hopefully he can back after pandemic)
@Eoin Fitzgerald: agreed 100%