Kuala Lumpur will be United's first stop on this summer's four-match pre-season tour of Asia.
At a press conference on Tuesday it was confirmed the world champions will play a Malaysia XI at the picturesque Bukit Jalil Stadium on 18 July, kick-off 10:30 BST.
It's eight years since the Reds last visited Malaysia, when 100,000 fans watched a Malaysian All-Stars team lose 6-0 to a strong United line-up. And official tour promoters ProEvents are expecting similarly fervent support this year.
“We are excited to work with the club again, and to bring to Asia one of the most exciting and biggest football clubs in the world," said San Boon Wah, managing director of ProEvents International.
“The club is popular throughout the world and especially so in Asia, where it has a wide fan base. I am sure many football fans, both local and from the region, are thrilled by this opportunity to see the champions in action."
Chief executive David Gill added: “Our relationship with fans in Malaysia is already well established, with local young people having the chance to learn to play the game the Manchester United way with MU Soccer Schools.”
United confirmed the China leg of the tour on Monday and details of the other two games, in Korea and Indonesia, will be revealed on ManUtd.com on Wednesday and Friday.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
A blast of a hairdryer.....
What exactly did Sir Alex say at half-time on Saturday? At some point in the future, in someone’s autobiography, all will be revealed.
We do have some clues. Patrice Evra told me after the game – with a knowing look on his face - that the boss had “made a speech” in the dressing room! Cristiano Ronaldo added that the boss had said if we scored early in the second half, United would go on to score four or five. Prophetic or what?
When Spurs went 2-0 up in the first half, TV cameras immediately panned to Sir Alex, searching in his expression for a crack under the pressure. He seemed unnervingly calm, and had the look of a man who’d seen it all before and knew exactly what to do to sort it out.
Perhaps the most important thing Sir Alex did at half time on Saturday was to bring on Carlos Tevez. He was like the Duracell bunny when he came on. Full of energy, determination and running, he chased down defenders and hustled and harried everyone. That’s why the fans love him so much. He changed the game, simple as that.
Of course, the penalty was the turning point. When Paddy Crerand – surely TV’s most biased pundit – insists it wasn’t a penalty then you really have to wonder about it. I insisted in my commentary that it was a penalty and that
Howard Webb was quite correct. I even suggested Gomes should have been sent off. Perhaps, on reflection, I was wrong but, in my defence, working with Paddy seems to have affected my judgement.
Blaming the penalty decision on the defeat seems a cop-out to me by Harry Redknapp. OK, it got United back in the game, but what about goals two, three, four, and five? Surely, Harry, your defence and goalkeeper need to take a bit of the blame – not just Howard Webb.
Just imagine all those Liverpool fans making their way back along the M62 after winning at Hull, listening to the radio 10 minutes into the second half. They would have been loving it; United two goals down and struggling. Then 22 minutes later they’re sat in stunned silence. Hilarious.
I thought Rooney and Ronaldo were outstanding, but so was Dimitar Berbatov. It can’t have been the most enjoyable of weeks for him after his penalty miss at Wembley, but his performance was superb on Saturday, all capped off with a deserved goal.
Let’s hope he gets another one on Wednesday – what a night that could be! The “Believe” mosaic will be making another appearance before the game. And after Saturday’s drama, you really do have to believe that anything is possible at Old Trafford.
We do have some clues. Patrice Evra told me after the game – with a knowing look on his face - that the boss had “made a speech” in the dressing room! Cristiano Ronaldo added that the boss had said if we scored early in the second half, United would go on to score four or five. Prophetic or what?
When Spurs went 2-0 up in the first half, TV cameras immediately panned to Sir Alex, searching in his expression for a crack under the pressure. He seemed unnervingly calm, and had the look of a man who’d seen it all before and knew exactly what to do to sort it out.
Perhaps the most important thing Sir Alex did at half time on Saturday was to bring on Carlos Tevez. He was like the Duracell bunny when he came on. Full of energy, determination and running, he chased down defenders and hustled and harried everyone. That’s why the fans love him so much. He changed the game, simple as that.
Of course, the penalty was the turning point. When Paddy Crerand – surely TV’s most biased pundit – insists it wasn’t a penalty then you really have to wonder about it. I insisted in my commentary that it was a penalty and that
Howard Webb was quite correct. I even suggested Gomes should have been sent off. Perhaps, on reflection, I was wrong but, in my defence, working with Paddy seems to have affected my judgement.
Blaming the penalty decision on the defeat seems a cop-out to me by Harry Redknapp. OK, it got United back in the game, but what about goals two, three, four, and five? Surely, Harry, your defence and goalkeeper need to take a bit of the blame – not just Howard Webb.
Just imagine all those Liverpool fans making their way back along the M62 after winning at Hull, listening to the radio 10 minutes into the second half. They would have been loving it; United two goals down and struggling. Then 22 minutes later they’re sat in stunned silence. Hilarious.
I thought Rooney and Ronaldo were outstanding, but so was Dimitar Berbatov. It can’t have been the most enjoyable of weeks for him after his penalty miss at Wembley, but his performance was superb on Saturday, all capped off with a deserved goal.
Let’s hope he gets another one on Wednesday – what a night that could be! The “Believe” mosaic will be making another appearance before the game. And after Saturday’s drama, you really do have to believe that anything is possible at Old Trafford.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Berbatov Proved His Worth
Sir Alex:
At the end of a week in which Dimitar Berbatov was criticised heavily for his penalty miss in the FA Cup semi-final, the Bulgarian tormented his former club and proved just why United shelled out so much money to secure his signature last summer.Against Tottenham Hotspur, the 28-year-old dazzled in United's 5-2 win, with Sir Alex describing his performance as "fantastic"."I don't think he gave the ball away once, throughout the entire game," the boss told MUTV. "I thought he was our best player in the first half and then in the second he produced some wonderful moments."He produces moments that make you sit back and say: 'that's world class'. The pass he gave Ronaldo in the second half was unbelievable."Berbatov didn't feature in United's 2-0 win against Portsmouth in midweek, three days after his casual penalty had been saved at Wembley. Many media outlets lambasted the striker for the miss, while radio phone-ins were awash with suggestion that the Bulgarian was overpriced."Look, he missed a penalty kick," Sir Alex said. "Many players have done that. Rio missed one last weekend as well and it’s all forgotten about. "But because we paid so much money for Berbatov people are on his back. I know it was a bad penalty kick, I'm not making excuses for it. But we have to move on. It’s only a missed penalty."He produced some fantastic football last week but didn’t get the credit because of the penalty miss."
At the end of a week in which Dimitar Berbatov was criticised heavily for his penalty miss in the FA Cup semi-final, the Bulgarian tormented his former club and proved just why United shelled out so much money to secure his signature last summer.Against Tottenham Hotspur, the 28-year-old dazzled in United's 5-2 win, with Sir Alex describing his performance as "fantastic"."I don't think he gave the ball away once, throughout the entire game," the boss told MUTV. "I thought he was our best player in the first half and then in the second he produced some wonderful moments."He produces moments that make you sit back and say: 'that's world class'. The pass he gave Ronaldo in the second half was unbelievable."Berbatov didn't feature in United's 2-0 win against Portsmouth in midweek, three days after his casual penalty had been saved at Wembley. Many media outlets lambasted the striker for the miss, while radio phone-ins were awash with suggestion that the Bulgarian was overpriced."Look, he missed a penalty kick," Sir Alex said. "Many players have done that. Rio missed one last weekend as well and it’s all forgotten about. "But because we paid so much money for Berbatov people are on his back. I know it was a bad penalty kick, I'm not making excuses for it. But we have to move on. It’s only a missed penalty."He produced some fantastic football last week but didn’t get the credit because of the penalty miss."
THE MOST DRAMATIC GAME I HAVE EVER SEEN
Games at Old Trafford should come with a health warning and it should clearly state that visits are not for the faint-hearted.
Having begun the month with a last-gasp victory over Aston Villa, the Reds ended it in similarly dramatic fashion after coming from two goals down to seal a stunning victory over Tottenham Hotspur which moved them three points clear of Liverpool at the top of the table.
Darren Bent and Luca Modric had given the visitors a two-goal lead at half-time, but Sir Alex’s men stormed back after the break thanks to a brace apiece from the outstanding Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo and another from Dimitar Berbatov.
The Bulgarian was one of five players who returned to the starting line-up after sitting out the victory over Harry Redknapp’s former side, Portsmouth, three days earlier. Rafael da Silva, who had filled in at right-back against Pompey following injuries to Gary Neville and John O'Shea, carried on where he left off, while Nani, Michael Carrick and Rio Ferdinand were also back. There was, however, no place for Ryan Giggs who watched on from the stands knowing he would have to wait for another day, most probably Wednesday against Arsenal, to make his 800th appearance in a red shirt.
United began the match in second following Liverpool’s earlier victory at Hull and immediately set about gaining top spot. Berbatov almost had the first sight of goal after just 30 seconds, but Darren Fletcher’s pass was just too long for the striker allowing Heurelho Gomes to collect.
Having already secured their top flight status, Spurs came to Old Trafford with little to play for other than pride. But they weren’t about to let that pride be easily dented and with a player of Aaron Lennon’s quality in your side there’s always a chance of opening up the opposition. And that’s exactly what the pacey winger nearly did on eight minutes. Fortunately Darren Bent’s header from Lennon’s floated right-wing cross was pushed around the post by Edwin van der Sar.
At the other end, Gomes had to be alert to Cristiano Ronaldo’s speculative 40-yard free-kick which bounced awkwardly in front of the Spurs' stopper who claimed it at the second time of asking. Four minutes later the Portuguese winger flashed a header wide after jumping to meet Nani’s left-wing cross.
United appeared to edging ever closer to an opener, but it was visitors who struck first blood on 29 minutes. Vedran Corluka’s whipped cross was missed by both Vidic and Ferdinand allowing the ball to fall to Darren Bent who duly smashed home from six yards.
Three minutes later things got doubly worse for United who looked more than a little shaky once more at the back. Lennon’s cross from the right dropped to the unmarked Luca Modric who lashed the ball inside the near post to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.
A shell-shocked Old Trafford couldn’t quite believe what they were seeing. United were in need of a minor miracle, or two, and Ronaldo almost provided it seven minutes from the break. Having seen his free-kick strike the wall, the winger reacted quickest and flicked a dippingvolley towards goal. Only a superb finger-tip save from Gomes prevented the Reds from clawing a goal back.
The Portuguese winger was handed the chance to get United back into the game on 57 minutes when Gomes upended Carrick in the area after a defence-splitting pass from Rooney had put the England international through on goal. Replays showed the keeper did in fact get a touch on the ball, but no-one in a red shirt cared a jot.
From the spot, Ronaldo calmly steered the ball down the middle of the goal as Gomes dived to his left. Old Trafford erupted – the fightback had begun.
Ten minutes later the Reds were back on level terms. A great one-two between Berbatov and Tevez allowed the latter to slide a pass into Rooney whose low shot through the legs of Corluka crept in at the near post after Gomes failed to get a strong enough hand on it.
Victory was now in sight and, quite unbelievably, a mere 60 seconds later United were ahead. Evra laid the ball to Rooney who cut inside from the left and sent an palpable.
inswinging centre towards the onrushing Ronaldo who met it with a diving header that bounced into the roof of the net. The relief and joy around Old Trafford was palpable.
Surely things couldn’t get any better? They could, two goals better in fact. Sublime control from Berbatov was followed by a neat lay-off to Ronaldo who clipped a lovely cross to the back post where Rooney was waiting. The striker brought the ball down and took aim. The ball hit Jonathan Woodgate on the line, but the defender was unable to stop it dropping over despite his and Ledley King’s best efforts.
Darren Bent saw a curling shot whistle inches past Van der Sar’s left-hand post soon after, before United headed upfield once more and bagged a fifth. And it was another excellent move, started and finished by Berbatov, from the rampant Reds. The Bulgarian sent the ball out to Rooney who again cut inside and crossed for Berbatov who was now waiting in the middle. His header was parried by Gomes, but only back into his path allowing Berbatov to poke home from two yards.
Van der Sar produced a fine stop from Robbie Keane six minutes from time, but it was all over by then. It had been a breathtaking comeback from United on yet another unforgettable day at the Theatre of Dreams.
Is Ronaldo At his best?
Man u - 0 spours- 2 half time. full time Man u- 5 spours 2.
Occasionally Ronny has an off day and still scores twice. Today he was at the heart of all United's attacking and thoroughly deserved his brace. Is this Ronny back to his best?
Occasionally Ronny has an off day and still scores twice. Today he was at the heart of all United's attacking and thoroughly deserved his brace. Is this Ronny back to his best?
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