West Ham fans got to savour one last Mark Noble performance at the London Stadium on Sunday night as the legendary midfielder played 90 minutes for England at Soccer Aid 2022.
The 35-year-old former Hammers captain hung up his playing boots for good last month after making 550 appearances for the club across an 18-year spell in east London, though was back playing in his former home ground to help raise money for charity Unicef by taking part in Soccer Aid.
Noble, who famously never won a senior England call-up during his professional career, looked good in the Three Lions strip and sent some West Ham fans into meltdown when he replaced former One Direction star Liam Payne as captain following the musician’s substitution after 30 minutes. He went on to play the full 90 minutes as England drew 2-2 with World XI before going on to lose on penalties, showing his class with some neat interplay and good reading of the game.
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Online, West Ham fans were in agreement that Noble clearly still looked a class above and some went as far as to call on their former skipper to reverse his retirement and spend one more season playing for David Moyes. One comment said: “He ran the show. You sure you can't do another year Nobes?” while another read: “Easy another year from him make it happen West Ham.”
Noble was joined in the England team by other former West Ham players like Stewart Downing and Joe Cole, though neither put in quite the same shift as the recently-retired midfielder managed. Noble even managed to put in a solid performance at centre-back for the final stages of the second half, dropping deeper as World XI sought to snatch the win during normal time.
When it came down to penalties, many were hoping to see Noble show off his expert abilities from the spot but, owing to Soccer Aid’s own rulebook, ex-pros aren’t allowed to take penalties, with the celebrities instead tasked with the pressure. And that pressure got to England as it has done now in each of the last three shoot-outs, with musician and goalscorer Tom Grennan and comedian Russell Howard both missing from 12 yards as Noah Beck, Martin Compston, Kem Cetinay and Lee Mack all converting theirs to seal the victory.
