Power of Caring
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Raise the curtain

Nine stars missing from England's Charity Shield

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Posted: Friday July 30, 1999 03:49 PM

Andy Cole and Manchester United will begin their run for another Premiership title after Sunday's curtain-raiser against Arsenal. AP

LONDON (AP) -- Nicolas Anelka doesn't want to play and eight other stars aren't fit.

The Charity Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser to the English soccer season, will have some unfamiliar faces when Manchester United and Arsenal meet at Wembley on Sunday.

While Anelka stays home in France, unwilling to play for the Gunners and accept Lazio's salary offer, Arsenal also will not have goalkeeper David Seaman, captain Tony Adams and Dutch forwards Dennis Bergkamp and Mark Overmars, who are sidelined through injury.

United is expected to be without midfielder Roy Keane, defender Gary Neville and the versatile Ronny Johnsen and was rocked by the news on Thursday that 20-year-old defender Wes Brown could miss most of the season after damaging knee ligaments in training.

The two clubs -- which consider themselves the strongest in England -- still have plenty of players in reserve. While United's Alex Ferguson has made one change, hiring Aston Villa's Mark Bosnich as replacement for goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, Arsenal's Arsene Wenger has been busier.

Wenger is likely to field some of his new signings, Oleg Luzhny from Dynamo Kiev, Silvinho from Corinthians and Stefan Malz from Munich 1860 against the Reds at Wembley while Ferguson may be tempted to field some of his untried youngsters.

Ferguson at least has some of his biggest names available, such as David Beckham, Dwight Yorke and Ryan Giggs and -- with Teddy Sheringham, Paul Scholes, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Andy Cole all available -- has an embarrassment of riches in attack.

By contrast, with Bergkamp and Anelka unavailable, a lot of pressure will fall on Nigerian striker Nwankwo Kanu, who has thrilled the fans with some of his skills on the ball.

The lanky forward, one of the stars of Nigeria's Olympic victory three years ago but sidelined for 18 months because he needed heart surgery, looks back to his best.

Kanu will be up against Jaap Stam, the tall Dutch defender whose performances in the second half of the season contributed hugely to United's unprecedented triple triumphs in the league, FA Cup and Champions Cup.

United will want a better result than last season's Charity Shield when Arsenal, then the league and FA Cup champion, scored a 3-0 victory at Wembley.

Now Ferguson's team holds the titles and a Wembley triumph over its biggest rival will give the Reds a psychological boost when the Premier League season starts six days later.

 

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