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2009 comes calling as Wayne Rooney, Maicon score in Seoul

Published: 14 Sep. 2025, 22:11 Updated: 15 Sep. 2025, 20:23

JIM BULLEY
[email protected]

Wayne Rooney celebrates after scoring at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul. [NEXON]

It’s an argument that has echoed through changing rooms the world over and we finally have an answer: Defenders trump attackers.

This is the central question behind the Nexon Icons Match, an exhibition game to end all exhibition games that pits the biggest footballers of the 2000s against each other in an offensive-defensive faceoff that finds a new way to gamify the beautiful game in the most spectacular way possible.

And for the second year in a row, the defenders have proven that an 11-man back four beats all-out attack, although only just.

Shield United celebrate their win at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul on Sept. 14. [NEXON]

Rafa Benitez’s Shield United beat Arsene Wenger’s FC Spear 2-1 at Seoul World Cup Stadium on Sunday, scoring twice in the final frames to pip the offensive side to the post and cancel out an earlier effort from Wayne Rooney.

Brazil’s Maicon and Korean legend Park Joo-ho provided the firepower for Shield United, ending on top for the second year in a row, but in far less spectacular form than last year’s 4-1 rout.

The lineups were slightly changed for this year’s game. New additions included Steven Gerrard and Gareth Bale, while Clarence Seedorf switched sides from Shield United to FC Spear.

Goalkeepers Gianluigi Buffon and Lee Bum-young were the sole defensive members of Wenger’s FC Spear, lining up behind Robert Pires, Gerrard, Seol Ki-hyeon, Eden Hazard, Seedorf, Ronaldinho, Rooney, Didier Drogba, Bale, Park Ji-sung, Thierry Henry, Kaká, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Koo Ja-cheol.

Seoul World Cup Stadium [NEXON]

Rafa fielded Iker Casillas and Kim Young-kwang in goal, alongside Ashley Cole, Claude Makelele, Rio Ferdinand, Carles Puyol, John Arne Riise, Park Joo-ho, Claudio Marchisio, Lee Young-pyo, Maicon, Anessandro Nesta, Nemanja Vidic, Michael Carrick, Gilberto Silva and Sol Campbell.

Gerrard, Henry and Puyol played the full 90 minutes, while a number of players including Rooney and Riise were substituted off and later came back on again.

While Shield United took the trophy, the ultimate winner, as cheesy as it sounds, was football. And the supporters. Oh, and this one Liverpool fan who got the chance to hug Gerrard at half time.

Maicon celebrates after scoring at Seoul World Cup Stadium in western Seoul. [NEXON]

This was a real festival of football. From the constant use of “Song 2” (1997) by Blur (FIFA 1998 fans know what’s up) to the 20 minutes of smack talk on videos before the game started, game-maker Nexon knew exactly how to take 32 of the biggest players in the world (once upon a time) and create a format that felt like both a tribute to them and also a genuinely fun experience.

And for me, a child of the ‘90s, and the thousands of middle-aged Koreans I saw around the stadium squeezed into too-tight shirts that have sat at the back of the closet for 15 years, this was everything an exhibition game could possibly be. It was the exhibition game to end all exhibition games.

They even had Pierluigi Collina as ref. And Wayne Rooney scored. Chef’s kiss.

Pierluigi Collina [NEXON]

So, if you care about the old offense vs. defense argument, Nexon have got the answer for you. But more importantly, if you want an exhibition game that is actually an exhibit worth seeing, and a chance to see your childhood icons not only playing again, but genuinely enjoying themselves, Nexon have got the answer for you.

Bring on 2026.

BY JIM BULLEY [[email protected]]