10 Famous World Cup Moments Involving Newcastle Players
10. Nicky Butt Named Player Of The World Cup By Pele (2002)
Let us start with a player originally forecasted to be an auxiliary option for England at the finals in South Korea but one that finished up being a key player for the Three Lions in 2002. Butt, a Manchester United player at the time and two years away from joining Newcastle, was the beneficiary of a pre-tournament injury to Steve Gerrard that saw him elevated into Sven Goran Eriksson's starting line-up and seize the Liverpool midfielder's no.4 shirt. Butt diligently anchored a midfield consisting of David Beckham, Paul Scholes and the unfashionable Trevor Sinclair to great effect and earned plaudits for his industrious performances in the unattractive holding role during England's run to the last-16, which included the redemption-fuelled victory over Argentina in the group stages. And our future club captain would receive the highest praise of all in the build-up to the quarter-final clash with Brazil with none other than Pele bestowing praise, often considered to be misplaced, upon Butt's for his measured impact in an England shirt and even labelled him as the player of the World Cup. "The player I like is Butt. Hes been the best player up to this point. He's a tremendous midfielder. He's a good marker, he's passionate, he gets forward and he passes well," the legendary Brazilian said of Butt. England would eventually crash out at the hands of the Selecao following a 2-1 defeat made memorable by David Seaman's devastating error when he caught off his line by Ronaldinho's wicked long-range free kick.
