I found this in the paper this morning about the match between Man U and Barcelona on Sunday. Too bad I didn't go to the game.
Oh, Man, What a Night By Mike Jensen Inquirer Staff Writer
RON CORTES / Inquirer
Barcelona goalie Victor Valdes is able to block a shot by Manchester United's John O'Shea during first-half action in their game at Lincoln Financial Field.
It's a beautiful place for soccer.
That's not why they built the facility, but it's how they christened Lincoln Financial Field last night.
Manchester United finished off its American marketing tour in style, pleasing most of the people in the Eagles' new home, - even the ones wearing David Beckham jerseys - and probably even the wannabe streaker who was tripped up by security and carried off with his pants around his ankles right after the game.
Until then, Manchester United star Ruud van Nistelrooy had the best run of the night, getting past a sliding Barcelona defender and a diving keeper for the last score in a 3-1 victory.
It wasn't part of their appearance fee, but both coaches raved about the stadium, which squeezed in 68,396 people.
"The pitch was wonderful," said Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard. "You could play billiards on it."
"It was a footballers' pitch," said Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson, who admitted he was initially fearful of the huge video screens at both ends. That's an American thing. He apparently was worried that his players would stop to watch themselves, but ended up declaring them "fantastic."
Manchester United brought in the crowds throughout its American tour, selling out three of four venues. The full house, 79,005, at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Thursday for Man U's game against Juventus, of Italy, was the largest ever to see two club teams in the United States.
"I thank them for that," Ferguson said of the American reception, saying it was nice for "everybody to give up basketball and baseball and American football to go watch soccer."
Last night, nearly every row of seats had somebody wearing a Beckham jersey. The former Manchester United star made his Real Madrid debut half a world away Saturday in Beijing. As for how his former teammates had adapted to life without him, Ferguson kept giving the same response throughout Manchester United's tour. Whenever he heard a sentence with the word Beckham in it, Ferguson said: "I'm not getting into that."
The No. 7 jersey Beckham used to wear now belongs to 19-year-old Scotsman Darren Fletcher. His starting position really belongs to Norwegian Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. And Manchester United didn't skip a beat without him.
Last night, the real Manchester United scoring star, van Nistelrooy, who had provided some of the great goals on the tour, came onto the field in the 53d minute. Starting in his place, Diego Forlan of Uruguay, had scored two goals in the first half, one on a low header, the other on a little tap-in off a deflection.
One of Manchester United's big summer purchases was an American. Tim Howard, from North Brunswick, N.J., was in goal again after impressing his coach against Juventus with "his agility and his reflexes and his speed and his courage."
Howard showed off his reflexes to make the first save of the game. He also saved a second-half goal with a spectacular effort, leaping to his right to get a hand on a Barcelona scoring attempt.
"We're taking that lad from the game knowing he will compete for the starting job," Ferguson said, commenting how Howard looked more comfortable and less nervous than he had the other night.
United fans had to be moaning about the game's first goal, since it was set up by the man who could have been their big off-season acquisition. Ronaldinho chose Barcelona instead, and there he was putting a perfect cross between two defenders on the head of Patrick Kluivert. Howard had no chance to stop Kluivert's header.
Last night was Kluivert's first game of the tour, since he ran into a little visa trouble when Barcelona initially arrived at Boston's Logan Airport. He had a conviction for vehicular homicide in 1996 and didn't get the special visa required. He didn't have any trouble getting acquainted with Ronaldinho.
Nobody could complain that the two powerhouses played this one in the half-speed way. In the first half, Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes probably thought he had the ball to himself as he chased it down at the edge of the box.
But United captain Roy Keane has never been known to give up on a ball. He got to the ball, and knocked it into Valdes' chest, and the keeper got up holding his forehead. Keane argued for a corner kick. Instead, he got a yellow card.
In four games, Manchester United scored 14 goals against some of the bigger clubs in the world. Asked if they were instructed to play this tour wide open, Man U defender Phil Neville said: "We're always expected to play that way."
