9-5 With Kem Cetinay At Soccer Aid 2021
It’s all kicking off tomorrow night! The Etihad Stadium in Manchester plays host to this years Soccer Aid for UNICEF match.
Sep 3 · 8 min read
As this year’s Principal Partner for UNICEF we got the inside scoop from World XI team player and Primark Ambassador, Kem Cetinay about what a typical day in the life has looked like ahead of the charity fixture.
Thursday 2nd September:
8-10am: Wake Up/ Breakfast
Getting things off to a good start… Kem confessed, ‘The others actually went to breakfast without me because I didn’t want to wake up early.’
‘For breakfast you can have whatever you want really, there’s poached eggs, fruit, cereal… to be honest I haven’t actually made it down for breakfast so I’m only going by what I’ve heard from the others!’
10am: Spa
Going from only having a kick about every so-often to full-on, drills and training with ex-professional players and managers means that the spa and massage facilities are taken full advantage of by Kem and the celebrities, ‘Everyone is taking the prep so seriously, there’s people getting massages and rub down’s after training to make sure they don’t pull any muscles or cause any injuries before Saturday.’
11am: Suit Fittings
As a Primark Ambassador, Kem was in charge of choosing and designing the suits and tailoring options for each team as they arrive at the game on Saturday evening, but what did everyone think of them?
‘I was a bit nervous before the fittings because they’re all quite fussy with their suits, but they all really liked them to be fair, they looked sick.’
‘And also, everyone loved the bomber jacket option as something a bit more casual, so that was a real winner.’
‘In terms of the fitting itself obviously I went in first and tried mine on, then when the others were putting theirs on I was in there suggesting maybe where bits could be taken in etc, but mainly just chatting to them. When Harry Redknapp was having his fitting, I was just having a massive heart to heart with him just talking about his life, it was mad!’
1pm: Press Interviews
‘I did a few interviews with Aitch, some with Mark Wright and then some with Robbie Keane who was absolutely hilarious, he is the banter of our team he just rips into everyone! He takes the mick out of what I wear… just everything!’
2-4pm: Training
With last year’s title to uphold, Kem admitted that despite it being a charity match, training is pretty rigorous:
‘Obviously, Harry Redknapp takes our training session as he’s the World XI manager, so yeah he takes us through drills and like puts us through our paces. Then he sets up quite serious games between us and the England team and obviously whilst there is fun involved, at the beginning they take it quite seriously which is good because it is a serious game and Harry has to see what he’s working with in terms of choosing the starting line-up.’
Confident that the World XI will clinch the victory for a second year running with a 3-2 win, Kem gave us the lowdown on who he thinks will pose a threat from the World XI squad and who he’s got his eye on in the England camp.
‘In terms of my team mates Dermot Kennedy is really good and also Martin Compston from Line of Duty, he’s quite an aggressive player but he’s really good.’
‘Then from the England team, Aitch has quite a good left foot, but the thing is, they get quite angry when we watch them. Sometimes when we finish training I just go and watch them and they’re like ‘stop watching us!’ They take it so seriously!’
4pm: Downtime
With a jam-packed schedule, the teams make sure they have enough time to wind-down, relax and enjoy the facilities at Mottram Hall in Cheshire. With so much to do and so many people to chat to, Kem admitted that the atmosphere during the training days are what makes it the best time of his year: ‘It’s unbelievable. Everyone’s just chilling in the lobby or in the spa or physio room getting massages, it’s so relaxed. It’s so nice because you’ve got people from all different walks of life that are elite at what they do so you’ve got rappers, singers, actors, presenters and everyone’s just talking about their lives and what they do and it’s just so interesting. I could just sit there for hours.’
7pm: Dinner
‘So for dinner they actually but on a barbeque and then turn it into a buffet, and yeah it’s all quite healthy so there’s chicken, rice, salad, burgers, veg. It’s a proper spread, all really nice and good fuel after training.’
10:30: Bedtime
‘Last night I went to bed quite early! I was in bed by like half ten, eleven but some people were up until like three in the morning socialising and playing Playstation!’