SIX weeks ago, James McAvoy made the dreams of some very poor children around the world come true, when he helped to raise millions of pounds for UNICEF at the Commonwealth Games opening ceremony at Celtic Park.

Yesterday, he was making his own childhood dream come true. On the same stage on which he co-hosted Glasgow 2014's kick-off, McAvoy scored with a penalty in his beloved Celtic strip to help Paul McStay's charity team in their 3-2 comeback success against Rio Ferdinand's side.

The Glasgow actor scored the equaliser as McStay's Maestros came from 2-0 down before John Hartson's match winner. For McAvoy, the moment might top the bill on his personal cv.

However, the real winners were the Celtic FC Foundation and the Rio Ferdinand Foundation, which raised money for UNICEF and War Child International to support work in the Middle East, from a weekend that included a charity dinner and the receipts from a 20,000 crowd.

McStay retired as a Celtic player 17 years ago and now lives in Australia, but had come back home at the pleading of Ferdinand, with the England defender being an admirer of the former Scotland captain. Now McStay can retire undefeated with an unblemished record after a win in his only match as player-manager. "Yes, maybe I will," he laughed. "You can see how much scoring that goal meant to James. You should have heard James and Martin Compston last night. They could not wait to get here and maybe that goal will mean more to James than some of his other things.

"It was a fantastic occasion. The fans who turned out have helped two great organisations and that is the really important thing. But hopefully they enjoyed the entertainment."

McAvoy rifled his penalty kick past Tomasz Kuszczak in a similar vein to Kris Commons here against Spartak Moscow in the Champions League in 2012. "I just kept my head down and didn't look at the keeper," said the actor. "But I am available now if Ronny Deila wants me."

Ferdinand joked that he had 'allowed' Frank McAvennie to net his fine volley because the Scottish striker had been one of his childhood heroes at West Ham.

"It's the West Ham connection isn't it? I had to give him something. Frank was part of the folklore at the club when I was there. It was a great finish. I stood off him but I didn't want Frank to leave on a stretcher.

"I thought about cleaning him out. I didn't think he'd finish it."

Celtic had a 12-man bench, hinting at the frequency of the substitutions that would take place during the warm afternoon for their ageing squad, while Ferdinand's young crew - which included four players currently playing in the Barclays Premier League (Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Joey Barton and Kuszczak) - had just seven substitutes.

While the football purists might have been keen to see Italian Gianfranco Zola start the game for Ferdinand's team, the younger female element were there for Louis Tomlinson, the singer from boy band One Direction, as the early screams indicated when the right-back touched the ball.

Paul McStay started the game alongside Lubomir Moravcik and Stiliyan Petrov in 'dream team' midfield for the Celtic supporters and lasted 16 minutes, not bad for a man who was told to stop playing altogether when he retired in 1997 because his knee injury could leave him crippled if he tried.

Now 49, he cut a slightly different figure to the slim young midfielder who captured the hearts of the Celtic supporters for almost two decades. Just before McStay's exit, Andy Cole had given Rio's All Stars the lead with a composed right-foot finish past Robert Douglas. Paul Scholes was equally eye-catching for Ferdinand's side, spraying passes and showing the zest which characterised his wonderful career for Manchester United and England. Bizarrely, Scholes gave way to comedian Jack Whitehall.

Jordan Stephens from the band Rizzle Kicks came off the bench and scored with his first touch to give Ferdinand's team a 2-0 lead, ghosting in at the back post to sidefoot a sublime chip from Zola past Douglas.

McStay's side equalised in the 68th minute, as Moravcik earned a penalty by duping Tomlinson into a challenge in the box. It was a soft award but McAvoy showed great composure to drive the ball past Kuszczak into the roof of the net.

The Polish goalkeeper was complicit in McStay's side snatching victory, when he fumbled Moravcik's cross and allowed Hartson to pounce and roll in the rebound.

The last word went to Zola, who never played here during his career.

"It was a great stadium to play in," he said. "I would like to come back one day to watch Celtic and Rangers."