English champions Manchester United are taking part in a pre-season tour of the Far East where they are very popular. They have millions of fans throughout Japan and China and, thanks to the buying of Manchester United merchandise, such as shirts, in those countries the region is very lucrative for United and adds much to their wealth.
In the opening game of the tour they have drawn with Japanese champions Urawa Red Diamonds.
Urawa give United tough workout in tour opener
Urawa Red Diamonds 2 Manchester United 2
17th July 2007
Daily Mail
Manchester United's Far East tour opened in disappointing fashion as J-League champions Urawa Red Diamonds held their Premier League counterparts in Saitama.
Second-half strikes from Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to have saved Edwin van der Sar's blushes after the veteran goalkeeper inexplicably gifted Hideki Uchidate a 25th-minute opener.
Showman: Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo shows off one of his tricks
But former Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono finished off a superb solo effort near the end to earn Reds a draw, no mean feat considering three of their key men are currently aiding Japan's Asian Cup bid.
Despite the late setback, it was a useful workout for Sir Alex Ferguson's men, who were without minor injury victims Owen Hargreaves and Nani, although Van der Sar probably did not enjoy himself too much.
There certainly seemed no apparent reason for Uchidate's speculative effort to find the net, other than the United goalkeeper completely misreading it as he moved towards his right-hand post, only for the ball to curl inside him.
A fumbled parry in the second half, by which time United had seized the initiative, offered a reminder of the uncharacteristic blunders Van der Sar made at the end of last term.
Although Ferguson is hardly likely to stress out too much at such an early stage of United's preparations for the defence of their Premier League crown, Van der Sar needs to be in top form ahead of the season opener against Reading on August 12 given Ben Foster is out until March following knee surgery.
After easing themselves into the contest, United increased their tempo immediately after Urawa grabbed their shock opener.
Power play: Rooney bursts past Urawa Reds' defender Nene (L) and Satoshi Horinouchi (R)
Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney might have levelled before the break but it took only two minutes of the second period for the visitors to level.
For all his industry and gameness, Fletcher would appear to have more to be worried about from Hargreaves' arrival than most.
Yet, preferred to Alan Smith, whose own future is also in doubt, the Scot kept his head in fine style to belt home the leveller after Michael Carrick had supplied a neat cut-back.
Up to that point, Ronaldo had been a sporadic spark, raising the greatest enthusiasm from a near-capacity, yet strangely muted, 58,716 crowd, with his array of tricks.
He clearly has not lost his eye for goal though and after 23 strikes last term, cut off the left wing then let fly with a thunderous shot which flicked off Satoshi Horinouchi before nestling in the bottom corner.
Rooney wasted another excellent opportunity to open his account after Ronaldo played him in and the England forward was made to pay immediately as Ono slalomed his way into the United box before finishing superbly to earn the Japanese outfit a share of the spoils.
Team Line-ups:
United: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand (Evans, 45), Vidic (Simpson, 45), Evra (Silvestre, 45), Ronaldo, Fletcher, Carrick (O'Shea, 69), Giggs (Smith, 69), Scholes, Rooney
Subs: Kuszczak, Heaton, Bardsley
------------------------------------------------
Urawa Red Diamonds: Tsukuki (Yamagishi, 45), Hosogai, Horinouchi, Nene, Yamada, Uchidate (Hiriwaka, 45), Hasebe, Soma (Okano, 91), Ono, Ponte (Koike, 83), Tanaka (Nagai, 75)
Subs: Tsutsumi, Sakai, Nishizawa
dailymail.co.uk
In the opening game of the tour they have drawn with Japanese champions Urawa Red Diamonds.
Urawa give United tough workout in tour opener
Urawa Red Diamonds 2 Manchester United 2
17th July 2007
Daily Mail
Manchester United's Far East tour opened in disappointing fashion as J-League champions Urawa Red Diamonds held their Premier League counterparts in Saitama.
Second-half strikes from Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo appeared to have saved Edwin van der Sar's blushes after the veteran goalkeeper inexplicably gifted Hideki Uchidate a 25th-minute opener.
Showman: Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo shows off one of his tricks
But former Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono finished off a superb solo effort near the end to earn Reds a draw, no mean feat considering three of their key men are currently aiding Japan's Asian Cup bid.
Despite the late setback, it was a useful workout for Sir Alex Ferguson's men, who were without minor injury victims Owen Hargreaves and Nani, although Van der Sar probably did not enjoy himself too much.
There certainly seemed no apparent reason for Uchidate's speculative effort to find the net, other than the United goalkeeper completely misreading it as he moved towards his right-hand post, only for the ball to curl inside him.
A fumbled parry in the second half, by which time United had seized the initiative, offered a reminder of the uncharacteristic blunders Van der Sar made at the end of last term.
Although Ferguson is hardly likely to stress out too much at such an early stage of United's preparations for the defence of their Premier League crown, Van der Sar needs to be in top form ahead of the season opener against Reading on August 12 given Ben Foster is out until March following knee surgery.
After easing themselves into the contest, United increased their tempo immediately after Urawa grabbed their shock opener.
Power play: Rooney bursts past Urawa Reds' defender Nene (L) and Satoshi Horinouchi (R)
Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney might have levelled before the break but it took only two minutes of the second period for the visitors to level.
For all his industry and gameness, Fletcher would appear to have more to be worried about from Hargreaves' arrival than most.
Yet, preferred to Alan Smith, whose own future is also in doubt, the Scot kept his head in fine style to belt home the leveller after Michael Carrick had supplied a neat cut-back.
Up to that point, Ronaldo had been a sporadic spark, raising the greatest enthusiasm from a near-capacity, yet strangely muted, 58,716 crowd, with his array of tricks.
He clearly has not lost his eye for goal though and after 23 strikes last term, cut off the left wing then let fly with a thunderous shot which flicked off Satoshi Horinouchi before nestling in the bottom corner.
Rooney wasted another excellent opportunity to open his account after Ronaldo played him in and the England forward was made to pay immediately as Ono slalomed his way into the United box before finishing superbly to earn the Japanese outfit a share of the spoils.
Team Line-ups:
United: Van der Sar, Brown, Ferdinand (Evans, 45), Vidic (Simpson, 45), Evra (Silvestre, 45), Ronaldo, Fletcher, Carrick (O'Shea, 69), Giggs (Smith, 69), Scholes, Rooney
Subs: Kuszczak, Heaton, Bardsley
------------------------------------------------
Urawa Red Diamonds: Tsukuki (Yamagishi, 45), Hosogai, Horinouchi, Nene, Yamada, Uchidate (Hiriwaka, 45), Hasebe, Soma (Okano, 91), Ono, Ponte (Koike, 83), Tanaka (Nagai, 75)
Subs: Tsutsumi, Sakai, Nishizawa
dailymail.co.uk