It will be quite a sight. Today at 3 PM GMT Sir Alex Ferguson will walk out of the Old Trafford dugout and head for the home team’s bench to his seat, the manager’s seat – a seat he occupied for half a century. Goosebumps incting stuff, surely.

The legendary Scotsman is sure to be as big if not a bigger attraction for fans to watch this charity match between a Great Britain and Ireland XI led by David Beckham and a Rest of the World Team led by Beckham’s former Real Madrid teammate Zinedine Zidane. It will be the first time since 2003 that Sir Alex will manage David Beckham as the Manchester United greats reunite for a Unicef charity match at Old Trafford.

This is an initiative pushed by Beckham himself, who is an ambassador of Unicef. In fact, over the last month, Beckham has been spotted in dire areas in Nepal, Djibouti, Papua New Guinea and even Antarctica, indulging in the sport that made him famous.

Carlo Ancelotti, one of the prime candidates to replace Ferguson as United manager, will occupy the away dugout in the ‘Match for Children. He is managing Zidane’s RoW team.

Money raised through profits from ticket sales and donations made on matchday will go to Unicef to help protect the world’s most vulnerable children.

Beckham said: “I want a world where children can grow up safe from violence, free from poverty and protected from preventable diseases. This match gives me the perfect opportunity to raise awareness and vital funds to help reach the children who need it most.

Possible team line-ups

GREAT BRITAIN & IRELAND: David Seaman, David James, Jamie Carragher, Sol Campbell, Phil Neville, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Darren Fletcher, Nicky Butt, Trevor Sinclair, Paul Scholes, Gary McAllister, Ryan Giggs, David Beckham (captain), Michael Owen, Peter Crouch, Alan Smith.

Manager: Sir Alex Ferguson

REST OF THE WORLD: Edwin van der Sar, Raimond van der Gouw, Cafu, Fernando Hierro, Fernando Couto, Mikael Silvestre, Maxwell, Luis Figo, Robert Pires, Christian Karembeu, Park Ji-sung, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Vieira, Michael Ballack, Ronaldinho, Zinedine Zidane (captain), Dwight Yorke, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Patrick Kluivert, Landon Donovan.

Manager: Carlo Ancelotti