KEY POINTS:
Paul Scholes had reason to dislike Urs Meier long before the Swiss referee disallowed Sol Campbell's 'winner' in the quarterfinal of Euro 2004, prompting a red-top inspired hate campaign.
Meier is the official who booked Scholes in the second-leg of the Champions League semifinal in Juventus five years earlier, causing Scholes to miss the famous final.
It was a harsh booking, said Sir Alex Ferguson in his autobiography, lamenting the fact he had only sent Scholes on as a 67th-minute substitute.
Maybe, the memory is a little cloudy but at the time this correspondent described "a lunging tackle" on Didier Deschamps.
Scholes never has been able to tackle, as he demonstrated again at Wigan last week. But that is just about the 33-year-old's only weakness as a player.
He appears to have few as a person either: a more level-headed footballer is unlikely to exist outside of the yellowing pages of a Roy of the Rovers comic.
He has also shown the courage to overcome the debilitating effects of asthma and, more recently, survived a career-threatening eye injury. He has no agent, does no advertising endorsements, and married his school sweetheart. On a day off, he sometimes takes his children to watch Oldham.
Scholes' absence in Barcelona nine years ago has long evoked widespread sympathy and it is not just United supporters who will be pleased to see the ginger nut lining up in Moscow tomorrow morning (NZT).
Ferguson promised him a slot months ago, a pledge interpreted in some quarters as further evidence that the Godfather was softening.
Do not believe it, Scholes is there on merit. His ability to link and spread the play, create and score goals, demands his inclusion.
Fabio Capello would like him back in the England team, and his compatriot, Marcello Lippi, is also a fan.
Lippi, who was Juventus manager that fateful night in Turin, said yesterday: "He would have been one of the first players I'd have bought, given the chance. He has been one of the most important players for United under Sir Alex. He can play everywhere."
Peter Schmeichel, for many years an Old Trafford teammate, said: "He has an eye for a pass, for what the play or the game needs at that precise moment, that I have never seen anyone else have."
This is one player who would not look out of place on the winner's podium, even if he would prefer to collect his medal anonymously.
- INDEPENDENT
