A friendly in Saudi Arabia was probably the last thing Alex Ferguson wanted, but his Man Utd team turned up with many of their biggest stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, for yesterday’s testimonial against Al Hilal in Riyadh. The match was played in honour of Saudi legend Sami al-Jaber, who scored the obligatory goal, from the obligatory ‘soft penalty’ (Alex Ferguson was spotted laughing at the ref’s decision to award the hosts a pen, but al-Jaber had to get on the scoresheet somehow).
United had reportedly been paid one million pounds to play the game, but I have to question the wisdom of playing this match in the midst of a busy season. Still, I guess it’s great that Saudi Man Yoo fans got to see the likes of Ronaldo and Tevez in the flesh. By the way, Man Utd youngster Danny Welbeck missed a last-minute penalty – not that the result matters a jot in the grand scheme of United’s season.
Video spotted at 101GreatGoals