Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to unleash almost ?40 million (US$81.3 million) of new talent when Manchester United begin their pre-season tour of Asia in Tokyo today.
Two years after their last visit to the region, United return as English Premiership champions for a four-game tour that will see them play to full houses in Tokyo, Seoul, Macau and Guangzhou over the next two weeks.
And the club's huge army of fans in Asia will be the first to glimpse new arrivals Owen Hargreaves and Nani in a United shirt.
But there is no match in Kuala Lumpur after United bowed to pressure from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and called it off as it clashed with the ongoing Asian Cup.
Unknown to the Red Devils, the Football Association of Malaysia had signed an agreement with the AFC not to host any other games while it was acting as a co-host of the regional soccer showpiece.
While United will show off Hargreaves and Nani, Brazilian midfielder Anderson, a ?19 million buy from Porto, will miss the tour because of his involvement in the Copa America.
United are also without Argentinian forward Carlos Tevez as they attempt to finalize his transfer from West Ham early this week.
But midfielder Hargreaves, who cost ?17 million from Bayern Munich, and ?17.3 million Portuguese winger Nani joins the likes of Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ryan Giggs in a star-studded squad.
Hargreaves ended a 12-month wait to sign for United when he arrived from Bayern last month.
The 26-year-old midfielder has been likened to Roy Keane for his all-action style and boss Ferguson admits that he will be a crucial addition to the Old Trafford squad.
"He will bring speed in midfield and good energy, but what is really important is that he has European experience which a not a lot of our players have," he said.
"His arrival, and that of Nani and Anderson, gives us a really strong squad next year," Ferguson said. "Maybe that was our downfall when we got into the final part of last season. We just didn't have enough in the squad to handle all the competitions we were in."
United kick-off their tour when they face Urawa Red Diamonds in Saitama tomorrow evening before jetting to South Korea to face FC Seoul on Friday night, without their injured South Korean midfielder Park Ji-sung.
From Seoul, United move on to Macau for a clash against Shenzhen FC in Macau Stadium on July 23 before wrapping up the tour with a game against Guangzhou Pharmaceutical four days later.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and