Manchester, ENGLAND (AFP)
A full-strength Manchester United squad -- including Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney -- land in Saudi Arabia on Sunday as the Premiership champions are set to play a testimonial game for Saudi legend Sami al-Jaber.
Sir Alex Ferguson's team left for Riyadh immediately after their Premiership clash with Reading on Saturday for the game against Al Hilal at King Fahd Stadium on Monday.
Jaber, who enjoyed a brief spell in English football with Wolves during the 2000-01 season, collected a staggering 158 caps for Saudi Arabia during his international career and the game against United is set to mark his official retirement, the player having announced his decision to quit last November.
Ferguson accepted the invitation from Saudi Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz al-Saud to play against Al Hilal, despite the busy fixture period, and a 68,000 sell-out crowd is expected on Monday.
United are understood have to received in the region of one million pounds to play in Monday's match and Ferguson's squad are due to spend a further five days at a training camp ahead of the FA Cup fourth tie against Tottenham at Old Trafford on January 27.
United captain Gary Neville is expected to make his first-team comeback against Al Hilal, having returned to action in the reserves earlier this month after 10 months on the sidelines with calf and ankle injuries.
And South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung, another recent returnee from a lengthy lay-off, is also likely to be handed ninety minutes by Ferguson to boost his fitness levels.
United's global popularity sees them rival Real Madrid for the title of the world's biggest football club and a recent survey commissioned by United suggested that they have an incredible 333 million supporters worldwide. |
