Monday 27 July (all times are local, 1 hour
ahead of UK)
16:15 – By the way, I can confirm
Nemanja Vidic, Antonio Valencia and Craig Cathcart are all here in
Munich after missing the trip to the Far East. I'm
particularly looking forward to seeing Valencia pull on a United
shirt for the first time, especially after Zoran Tosic and Darron
Gibson performed so well in Asia. No doubt Valencia will have
been watching those games, so he'll be well aware of the
competition he's up against.
15:41 – So we're not alone. Boca Juniors, United's
first opponents in the Audi Cup, appear to be staying in the same hotel. I
wonder if either team will engage in tactics designed to put the
other off – you know, setting off fire alarms, pressing all the
buttons in the elevator, charging room service to the wrong
account...
I think Boca will be really up for Wednesday's match. They've flown
all the way from Argentina, so they're hardly about to take things
lightly, are they? And as long as they have Juan Roman Riquelme in the
side, they're capable of beating anybody.
14:52 – Training's been eschewed for time in the
gym this afternoon so I'm afraid there's not an awful lot to report
from Munich. Essentially, it's a (much needed) day off for most of
the staff after another long-haul flight. It does mean I run the
risk of getting very bored... although I've just had a look around
my hotel room and, if I get desperate for something to
do, could dismantle this and then attempt to
put it back together again.
Somehow I don't think that will be necessary: Munich's a wonderful
city with plenty to do and see.
10:25 – We've just arrived at the hotel in Munich
to be met by one man and his digital camera. It's a far
cry from the hysteria of the Far
East. Even the airport security staff were
jostling for autographs on our way out from Hangzhou.
If I'm honest, I don't really know what's on the agenda for the
day. The schedule tells me the players
are training at 14:30, but there was talk on the plane that it
may be scrapped in favour of a session in the gym. For now,
however, everyone's tired after a long flight, so I think it's a
case of having a shower and maybe a few hours'
kip.
03:36 – This is meant to be the live blog from
Munich but this entry is actually coming to you from the glorious
nation of Kazakhstan. We've only stopped here to refuel, however,
so I'm not sure it counts as a country I can tick off my list of
places I've visited.
Anyway, the Asia Tour is officially over and now it's time to focus
on the Audi Cup. It's just under six hours from here to Munich, so
I'm going to get some sleep. The next entry in the blog should be
coming to you direct from Europe
