Sir Alex Ferguson previewed the upcoming DHL tour in
an exclusive interiew with MUTV...
This is the fourth time you’ve taken a team to South
Africa – is it a country you look forward to
visiting?
Yes it’s a great country and the games we
have over there have been competitive and we have a great fan-base
over there. It’ll be a good start for us on the tour and it’s
something I’m looking forward to.
Then it's on to China, is the welcome United get in the
Far East something very unique?
It’s something we’re
well used to now. I remember my first trip to the Far East in ’89
when we played in Thailand and Japan and it was exactly like that.
The fans were all over the hotel, running through the corridors and
waiting for us outside the hotel all through the night – it was
quite amazing. We played two games in Japan, one in Kobe and one in
Tokyo and at the time Japan was more leaning towards baseball and
American football was also starting to catch on. But when we played
in the National Stadium we got a full house and the impact of
Manchester United in the Far East is absolutely amazing. I think it
will always be that way because the history of our club has
infiltrated into the fans over there for life. That’s what happens
with any fans when you start supporting a team as a kid. It gets
passed down generations and I think you’ll get a really consistent
base of United fans in the Far East for years to come.
How much are looking forward to spending some time in
Shanghai?
I must say every time I’ve been to China
I’ve really enjoyed it. I think it’s an amazing place and it’s
quite stunning how they’ve progressed. I remember the last time we
went to Shanghai we went to a duck restaurant that seated 2,000
people! Every course was duck which was amazing. Alec Wylie
[kitman] doesn’t eat duck so he was on bread all night! [Laughs]. I
find China a really interesting country.
Does the presence of Drogba and Anelka in Shanghai
Shenhua’s squad add extra spice to the fixture in
China?
Absolutely. It might be the first time the
Chinese fans have seen Drogba when we play them and I must say it’s
a boost for us to see Drogba leaving Chelsea! He scored that
fantastic goal against us in the FA Cup final [in 2007] with just a
few minutes to go and his goalscoring in finals and big games is
incredible. As far as I’m concerned he won the Cup [the Champions
League] for Chelsea. He scored that header with just a few minutes
to go and only Drogba, with his record and his ability to score in
big games, could have done that.