Topics: Soccer Aid 2020, Lianne Sanderson, Arsenal, English women's national team
“A female player like myself to be going up against guys that I have watched in World Cups and my entire life was an absolute dream come true.”

At the age of five, Lianne Sanderson, whose father played for Crystal Palace, begged her dad to let her play on a football team. By the age of six, Sanderson began playing for a boys' team in South London.  

Fast forward 26 years and Sanderson would once again share the pitch with men who were once boys who shared similar aspirations as her at a young age.  

These were not just any men. These were the players that Sanderson grew up watching on the big screen during World Cups and other major competitions.  

Sanderson took part in Soccer Aid's World XI team, which featured Michael Essien, Claude Makelele, Yaya Toure, Robbie Keane and the ever-so-happy Patrice Evra. The England team had the likes of Michael Owen, Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey, and a trio of Coles in the form of Andy, Ashley and Joe.

Each team was mixed with a group of celebrities including F2 Freestylers Jeremy Lynch and Billy Wingrove, musicians Chunkz, James Bay and Santan Dave, and TV personalities Alfie Allen, Mark Wright, Kem Setinay and Iain Stirling.  

The Rest of the World team defeated England on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford and Sanderson shared what her experience was like on Twitter. 

Soccer Aid is a fundraiser event backed by Unicef, which raises money every year to help children around the world. This year, former players and celebrities played for 'Generation COVID', and the $15,064,156 – the most money a match has raised in the history of the fundraiser – raised will help Unicef stop the spread of coronavirus and limit the impact on children's lives around the globe. 

Other women's football legends joined Sanderson on Sunday. Scotland international Julie Fleeting, who recorded 116 goals in 121 appearances for country played alongside Sanderson, and the English duet of Katie Chapman and Kelly Smith played on the England team. 

Sanderson joined Arsenal at the age of nine where she began her professional career in the 2003-04 season. She shook the world in 2007 when she finished the season as Arsenal's top scorer, with 40 goals in 41 appearances across four competitions, all of which were won by Arsenal. The following season saw the English forward score 51 goals in 36 appearances. 

Sanderson moved to Chelsea in 2008, where she played for two years. After that, she traveled all over the world playing the sport. She played in North America for Philadelphia Independence, D.C. United, Boston Breakers, Portland Thorns, Orlando Pride and Western New York Flash. She also went to Spain to play in Espanyol, to Cyprus to play in Apollon Limassol and even returned to Arsenal in 2015. Moreover, finished her career in Turin, winning the Coppa Italia and Serie A with Juventus in 2019.  

For England, she scored 15 goals in 50 games and helped her team finish second in the 2009 UEFA Women's Championship and third in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.