United will welcome back a host of stars from
international duty today, including Nani, who played 17 minutes for
Portugal in Wednesday night’s 3-0 victory over Liechtenstein.
After injuring his shoulder in Sunday’s Community
Shield loss, Nani was reported by some media outlets to be expected
to miss up to several weeks. But the Reds winger appears to have
made a speedy recovery and could now feature in Sir Alex’s plans
for Birmingham City’s visit on Sunday.
Elsewhere, United’s internationals enjoyed mixed fortunes
overnight. England drew 2-2 with Holland in a friendly in
Amsterdam, although it’s a night Rio Ferdinand
will probably want to forget. His error gifted Dirk Kuyt the game’s
opener before Fabio Capello’s men fell further behind after another
defensive blunder, this time from Manchester City midfielder Gareth
Barry. Wayne Rooney looked sharp during his
59-minute spell, while Michael Carrick played 45
minutes after being introduced at half-time. It was another
substitute, Jermain Defoe, who rescued England with goals in the
49th and 77th minutes.
Two Reds – Darren Fletcher and Patrice Evra – were involved in
competitive World Cup qualifiers. In Group 7, Patrice
Evra played 90 minutes as France edged
