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Paul Scholes celebrates his 600th game for Man Utd
The veteran midfielder, once described as the ‘undoubtedly the best midfielder of his generation’ by Zinedine Zidane, hits a new landmark
Martin Samuel waxes lyrical in the Daily Mail about Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes on the occasion of his 600th start for the champions: "He did not do a whole lot, to be fair. There was nothing showy in his performance, nothing that screamed for attention or garlands on his special night. A wall pass here, a clever little triangle there and, then, the loveliest eye-of-the-needle ball to Michael Carrick for the goal that made victory certain."
But it is the way in which the quiet 34-year-old comports himself that Samuel finds the true measure of the man: "All were delivered with the same delicious understatement, the same intelligence, the same economy of effort. At the end, he shook hands with four Portsmouth players in the vicinity and disappeared down the tunnel, the first to do so. He applauded the fans, as they did him. Mutual respect and not a trace of arrogance. You hear a lot about footballers these days; but you don't hear too much about ones like Paul Scholes.
"This was his 600th game in a Manchester United shirt and in that it was no different to his 599th or his 601st. Scholes does not need to send up a rocket to grab attention, nor would he want to," concludes Samuel apporvingly. ·
