Soccer Aid 2021's England team has been left without its best goalkeeper after Paddy McGuinness dropped out due to injury.
The Top Gear presenter and new A Question of Sport host took to Instagram to update his followers about how he had torn his lateral meniscus (ouch!) and was out of action hours before the big game.
The charity game, which is taking place tonight (September 4) at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, sees former professionals and celebrities with some football talent face off in an England v The Rest of the World match to raise money for Unicef.
Related: Top Gear's Paddy McGuinness swears live on The One Show after hilarious accident
Paddy wrote: "Gutted! For the first time ever I'm having to pull out of @socceraid due to injury. Tore my lateral meniscus and it's not something that can be sorted with the magic sponge. Good luck to both teams today and if you’ve got tickets you're in for a great day for a great cause."
He then posted a video of him getting in an ice bath, because apparently, it helps, showing off his rather swollen knee.
He's not the only celebrity to pull out at the last minute, with TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp announcing yesterday that he will not be playing after a positive COVID test.
Taking to his socials on Friday, Kemp announced: "I'm absolutely gutted. I've had a positive test come through so I won’t be playing at @SoccerAid tomorrow night.
"I'll be cheering from a sofa and hope that everyone donates as much as they can for the cause. Come on Soccer Aid World XI FC!"
Celebrities playing for England are Olly Murs, legendary runner Sir Mo Farah, popstar James Arthur, Masked Singer's Joel Dommett, YouTuber Chunkz, TOWIE's Mark Wright, rapper Aitch, Olympic Gymnast Max Whitlock, singer James Bay. They're joined by ex-pros Wayne Rooney, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Jamie Redknapp, Fara Williams, Kelly Smith, David James, Jamie Carragher, Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips, under manager Sven-Göran Eriksson.
The Rest of the World team features Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt, Tom Grennan, Dermot Kennedy, Chelcee Grimes, former Love Islander Kem Cetinay, presenter Ore Oduba, comedian Lee Mack, Line of Duty's Martin Compston, singer Yungblud and rapper Big Zuu. They're joined by former pros Roberto Carlos, Patrice Evra, Nigel De Jong, Pablo Zabaleta, Shay Given, Ingrid Moe Wald, Wes Morgan, Clarence Seedorf, Darren Fletcher and Julie Fleeting. Harry Redknapp takes on managing duties.
Soccer Aid airs on ITV.
Tasha is a freelance writer for with a particular interest in the representation of women in film and TV. After graduating with a Literature degree then journalism qualifications with News Associates a few years further back than she’d like to admit, Tasha began her freelance career. She’s worked as a writer, editor and commissioning editor for a number of publications including Digital Spy. She is also a theatre critic. LinkedIn
