Manchester United Cruise the Coast
English football giants, Manchester United closed their two match tour of South Africa with a 1-1 draw with Ajax Cape Town at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday.
Manchester United, recently voted by Forbes as the most valuable sports brand in the world, played matches in Durban and Cape Town as part of their 6 match, 4 countries, world tour which will see them play in China, Sweden and Germany in the coming weeks.
When asked about his impressions of his team’s tour of South Africa, Manchester United team manager Sir Alex Ferguson was complimentary. “It’s been fantastic (the tour of South Africa), the fans have been great, the teams have been great, the pitches have been excellent, we really enjoyed it”. While Western Cape Premier, Helen Zille, expressed her hope that the English outfit would play in Cape Town annually as part of her province’s goal to become the entertainment capital of the African Continent.
The Tour kicked off with a match between Manchester United and Amazulu in Durban’s Moses Mabida stadium on Wednesday. The match was attended by a near capacity crowd, most of which came to see and support the Manchester club. A lone goal by Frederico Macheda in the first half was enough to seal a 1-0 victory for United.
The former English Champions were a little less impressive in their performance in Cape Town, only three days later, when a defensive lapse of concentration let Ajax substitute Alcardo Van Graan sneak in a header from a corner only four minutes from time. United responded well and pushed the Cape Town sides defence until Portuguese International, Bebe, grabbed a late equaliser on the 90th minute to make sure that United left the Continent undefeated.
The tour also saw the debut of new Manchester United signings, Shinji Kagawa and Nick Powell in Durban and Cape Town respectively.
Did you attend any of the matches? What were your thoughts on the tour’s matches?
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In : Football