I have no hesitation in putting a name to the embodiment of all that I think is best about football. It's Paul Scholes. In so many ways Scholes is my favourite.

Paul Scholes is my favourite player. He epitomises the spirit of Manchester United and everything that is good about football.

Duncan Edwards is the one person who, even today, I really felt inferior to. I've never know anybody so gifted and strong and powerful with the presence that he had.

I have no hesitation in putting a name to the embodiment of all that I think is best about football. It's Paul Scholes. Players like Denis Law and George Best who I enjoyed so much as team-mates and now, finally, players I have watched closely in the Alex Ferguson era. And in so many ways Scholes is my favourite. I love his nous and conviction that he will find a way to win, to make the killer pass or produce the decisive volley.

Beckham is unusual. He was desperate to be a footballer. His mind was made up when he was nine or ten. Many kids think that it's beyond them. But you can't succeed without practising at any sport.

Im looking forward to the World Cup because I believe Wayne Rooney could be one of the major finds in world football.

In the sweep of its appeal, its ability to touch every corner of humanity, football is the only game that needed to be invented.