Carrick: An incredible day

Michael Carrick celebrates scoring during his testimonial

Michael Carrick hailed an “incredible” day after more than 70,000 fans turned up at Old Trafford for his testimonial on Sunday.

The midfielder, who has been at Manchester United for 11 years, also struck a superb late goal in a 2-2 draw between a Manchester United 2008 XI – made up of their Champions League-winning side from that year – and an All-Star XI featuring the likes of Jamie Carragher, John Terry and Clarence Seedorf.

“It’s incredible. I’ve pictured in recent weeks how the game was going to go and how the day was going to go and if everyone was going to be fit enough to play and all sorts of things,” he told MUTV.

“But the game was great – I think everyone enjoyed it – and to score was amazing, probably more amazing for my kids watching in the stands because they were begging for me to score today.”

Carrick was on the scoresheet in his testimonial

The match followed a difficult couple of weeks following the terror attack in Manchester, with Carrick addressing both that and the atrocities in London on Saturday night in a pre-match speech, with kick-off being moved forward 90 minutes due to the tribute concert taking place in the city later in the day.

“I think everybody deserves a break now, especially after last week when we had to move the kick-off time,” he said. “A lot of changes had to be made so it’s been quite a stressful week.

“In the end, we played and it was a success and it was better than I could have hoped for, so I’m delighted.

“I can switch off now and go away with my family and probably throw my phone into the sea now so I don’t have to take any more calls or emails and just get my head together to get ready for pre-season.”