American outfit The New York Cosmos have arrived in Manchester ahead of Paul Scholes' Testimonial at Old Trafford on Friday. Manchester United, captained by Scholsey, will take on a New York Select XI, chosen by the player himself, and Cosmos managers Pelé and Eric Cantona. The Testimonial is a 75,000+ sell-out...

Paul Scholes has contributed to 676 United matches in his club career, spanning 17 seasons, in which he has scored a massive 150 goals. The 36-year-old only gave up his boots at the end of last season (this summer), whereby he finished his career as The Red Devil's 4th most appeared player and joint 9th all-time highest goalscorer. The midfielder has been heralded as 'the best of his generation' by defunct French midfielder Zinedine Zidane. 

It's no doubt then that the central ace will see over 75,000 United supporters pack into The Theatre Of Dreams to watch Scholes in action for the very last time. Big names such as Nicky Butt, Gary Neville, Sol Campbell, Fabio Cannavaro, Brad Friedel, Robbie Keane, Brian McBride, Michel Salgado and Patrick Vieira have been selected to feature in the New York Cosmos squad, who take on a selection of current Reds, with Scholes as skipper. 

Football legends Pelé and Eric Cantona are in charge of the North American soccer team, who are set to be introduced into Major League Soccer by 2013, after they managed to put a home-grown team together and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg finds them a stadium. Pelé, a former Cosmos player, said: "To come back with The Cosmos is fantastic. I spent a lot of my life promoting soccer in the United States and I'm very proud to do it."

Pelé - widely regarded as the greatest footballer world sport has ever seen - played for the 1971-1985 version of the New York Cosmos, after the former Brazilian forward served for Santos, scoring over 1,000 goals from them in more or less the same amount of games. Former United striker, 'King Eric', is also tied to the club which is based in NYC. He believes New York can become the soccer capital of America, a title which is currently found elsewhere.
 
"I didn't want to come back like any other ex-player," Cantona explained, speaking about his return to OT. "I wanted to come back with a special club. We have a lot of things to do and we want to do them well. We want to win things and build things. We want to work on the long term and try to be one of the best teams in the USA and maybe help, through our young talent, the national team to win the World Cup. We are special, and better than the others."
 
The current New York Cosmos, re-established in 2010, will play their first ever game in Manchester for Paul Scholes' Testimonial. Ex Tottenham Hotspur Director Paul Kemsley, now of The Cosmos, couldn't contain his own excitement: "To be playing the first game at Manchester United is just the biggest thrill in the world. It's been over 25 years since the club last played a game and it's going to be a very emotional evening..." Kick-off is Friday, 7:30pm.