Urawa Red Diamonds v Utd (July)

[missunited]

muss said:

Sir Alex Ferguson will field a full strength side for United's first Asia tour match against Urawa Reds Diamonds in Tokyo.

The Reds kick-off their pre-season campaign at Saitama Stadium on Tuesday evening local time - 11:05 BST - but fans may have to wait a little longer to see new signings Owen Hargreaves and Nani in action after the United boss confirmed both are suffering with slight knocks.

"I will field a strong team," he confirmed at his pre-match press conference. "It is possible Nani won't play because he is still carrying an injury from the European Under-21 Championships with Portugal. He is a big doubt.

"There is a slight doubt over Owen Hargreaves but hopefully he'll be ready for the game in Korea. Other than that I will have the strongest squad available to me.

"Edwin will be in goal. Wes Brown, Rio, Vidic and Patrice will play at the back. Carrick and Scholes will be in midfield. Ronaldo, Giggs and Rooney will all play; I've just got to decide about one of the wide positions, possibly Darren Fletcher might step in.

"It'll be more or less the side we depended on last season. They'll probably play for just over an hour, then we'll make changes. That'll be the case during the rest of the tour; we'll mix the bunch up so they all get some decent mileage in before we head home."

The United boss was keen to acknowledge the impressive standard of Japanese football and insists the Reds will need to work hard for a result against their opening game opponents.

"I see quite a lot of Japanese football on TV. The quality has improved tremendously," he declared. "Hopefully, we can handle it on Tuesday.

"We played Urawa Red Diamonds two years ago, the stadium was fantastic and the condition of the pitch was marvellous. We had a particularly hard game against Urawa Red Diamonds two years ago and I am expecting exactly the same this time."

...manutd---

good...

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marliman said:

i want to see simpson and evans play

[missunited]

Shoutbox is now up on the mainpage to discuss the match! Enjoy!

[ronaldoboi]

ronaldoboi said:

i predict 2-1 or 3-1 utd. it wont be as easy as were all expecting.

yep ended 2-2 ronaldo n fletcher scorin for us.

[marliman]

2-2

[RedArmy20]

so we drew eh? hehehe, what a game , it was a relief to get this game out of the way, all this time i missed united, but now i will not watch any more of these friendlies until we meet inter...

[missunited]

The boys got a kickabout and have started getting back to fitness, that's all that matters today. Roll on next match!

[theresonly1united]

All the goals here:

[redom]

^^ cheers, two decent goals from united, what the hell was VDS doing on their first and I'm not liking the white bit on the back of the collar but nice to see the lads back in action, shame I couldn't watch it

[missunited]

Report: Urawa 2-2 United

Despite scoring twice in a frantic five-minute period at the start of the second half, United ended the first Asia Tour match on level terms with Urawa Red Diamonds in Tokyo's Saitama Stadium.

Inspired by goals from Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Reds overturned a 1-0 half-time deficit to take the lead on 52 minutes. But drizzly conditions and a late equaliser from home crowd favourite Shinji Ono put a dampener on proceedings.

Despite the rain, both sides were determined to keep the ball on the ground and Paul Scholes was particularly effective early on, orchestrating United's attacks from the centre of midfield. Cristiano Ronaldo didn't disappoint his admirers either, pulling out his party tricks as early as the second minute.

The Portuguese winger, who drew cheers with every touch, forced Urawa Reds goalkeeper Tsukuki into his first save on 25 minutes when he shot fiercely towards the near post.

But a minute later, the Premier League champions were behind. Urawa's Hideki Uchidate found space in the United half and let fly from 30 yards with a shot that swerved wickedly past Edwin van der Sar. In fact, the deviation was so severe, van der Sar was left diving in the wrong direction.

Urawa threatened again four minutes later but then seemed content to settle on the ball. So it was left to Wayne Rooney to inject a little sparkle into the match. With 43 minutes on the clock, Rooney provided an inch-perfect cross for Paul Scholes, but the midfielder could only steer his header into the arms of a grateful Tsukuki.

A minute later, the England striker had everyone at the Saitama Stadium on their feet after coming within a whisker of a spectacular equaliser. Rooney picked up the ball inside the United half before turning on the speed to brush aside what seemed like most of the Urawa defence. But, when left with only Tsukuki to beat, the Reds' no.8 scuffed his shot and the goalkeeper stretched out a right boot to divert it around the post.

Sir Alex made three changes at the interval, bringing on defenders Danny Simpson, Johnny Evans and Mikael Silvestre for Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra. Perhaps it should have been the home side shoring up the defence. It wasn't, and within seven minutes of the restart, United were 2-1 up.

Darren Fletcher scored the equaliser from 12 yards after substitute goalkeeper Yamagishi failed to hold a Michael Carrick shot moments earlier. Then, in the 52nd minute, the crowd got what they came for when Cristiano Ronaldo cut inside from the left wing to unleash a rasping drive past Yamagishi at the near post. It was typical of so many of Ronaldo's goals last season and a reminder of how dangerous the Portuguese winger can be when given space.

United looked comfortable thereafter but failed to capitalise on a number of half chances. Shinji Ono, however, was lethal when presented an opportunity in the 78th minute. The midfielder showed enormous composure to turn Johnny Evans and roll the ball coolly past Edwin van der Sar and into the far corner.

It was the last significant piece of action in an entertaining and free-flowing affair. The Reds now travel to South Korea for Friday's match against FC Seoul (kick-off 12:00 BST).

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

[theresonly1united]

Sir Alex pleased with run-out

Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased with his players after their first run-out in the 2-2 draw with Urawa Red Diamonds at the Saitama Stadium in Tokyo.

United came from a goal down to lead 2-1 with second-half strikes from Darren Fletcher and Cristiano Ronaldo, but Urawa Reds staged a comeback to level at 2-2. But, Reds boss Sir Alex considered a good first run-out.

"We tired a little in the second half," he told MUTV. "That's understandable after a long journey. It's 14 or 15 hours' travel so that's difficult. The players applied themselves well and played some good football at times. We managed to get quite a few of them a good run out, so we're happy with that.

"We came back well," he added. "We started the second half with a bit of speed and we did all right. Towards the end of the game the legs went a bit. But some of the players played very well.

"[Rooney and Ronaldo] were both excellent. You can see the development in their game and the decision-making is getting better. We're very happy with them."

Sir Alex was also praised young defenders Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson, who came on at half time for Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic.

"Jonny and Danny did okay," he said. "I think Jonny could have maybe done better on the second goal but it was a good start for him. We know his potential, he's a fantastic young player and young Simpson did really well – his energy up and down the line was good."

[Chris]

Owen Hargreaves and Nani will both have to wait a little longer for their United debuts after Sir Alex Ferguson confirmed the pair are struggling to be fit for the Reds' second Asia tour match in Seoul.

Hargreaves has a knee problem, while Nani is still suffering the affects of an ankle injury picked up during the European U21 Championships last month.

Nevertheless, Sir Alex is confident the duo will be available for Monday's match against Shenzhen FC in Macau.

"Owen has a touch of tendonitis in his knee," revealed the United boss. "It is not particularly serious. It happens with a lot of players at the start of the season and maybe he will be okay for the third game.

"Nani will play in the third match. He picked up an ankle injury during the European Under-21 Championships. It is not long-term but there is no need to rush him back."

Sir Alex was pleased with his side's display in Tuesday's 2-2 draw with J League side Urawa Red Diamonds. And the Reds' boss says he has already seen enough from his players to give him plenty of confidence ahead of the new campaign.

"I said before the start of last season we were starting off on a journey that could take them a long way," he explained.

"We are hoping for early indicators about the progress of the players and team and we saw further evidence on Tuesday that there is no regression.

"You always look to see whether the enthusiasm is still there, whether the desire is still there and whether the players are still enjoying their football. I think we saw that they are."


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There is no rush to play them so its no big deal. As long as they are 100% or the start of the season im not too bothered. Plenty of friendlies left.

Any chance we can change this thread so it is about all the games in our tour in one thread. Kind of like 'the official Asia tour thread'.

[RedArmy20]

yeah i really want to see them, but we have plenty friendlies left, so they can take their time. but i think if they could get like 20 min next match it would be great

[marliman]

who really cares about some pretty shitty pre season games against some chinese teams?

[kokka78]

i love the comentators!!

[superparky13]

I don't care if the players we have are as unfit as Johnny Vegas we should be beating this teams its good to get fitness but we are not West Ham or Fulham or City every game we play should be won, in pre-season, get the new boys used to winning and get the current to remember that feeling