Manchester United's David Moyes walks through Sydney Airport. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph
MANCHESTER Utd frenzy has officially hit Sydney after the Red Devils touched down in Australia yesterday.
Players and new manager David Moyes met a late smattering of fans at Sydney Airport before quickly moving on to see some of the sights around Darling Harbour.
Win lunch with David Moyes and see a private training session
Visiting Sydney's iconic landmarks aside, the Manchester Utd outfit is already turning its mind towards Saturday's clash with the A-League All Stars.
Rio Ferdinand , Michael Carrick, Manager David Moyes and Ryan Giggs (L-R) see the sites. Source: News Limited
Arriving Down Under for the first time in 13 years, this travelling band of megastar millionaires - think Ryan Giggs, David De Gea and Rio Ferdinand - are now part of a blockbuster week that involves the A-League All Stars and Origin III decider being played at ANZ Stadium.
Man U star Ryan Giggs will be there for both events, sitting in the crowd for Origin.
"I'm looking forward to it - I'm a big rugby league fan and I had the great pleasure of spending time with Melbourne Storm when they played Leeds for the World Club Championship," he said.
Manchester United players take photos of the Sydney Opera House from their team hotel. Picture: Adam Taylor Source: The Daily Telegraph
"I spent a bit of time with Billy Slater and Cameron Smith, though obviously they're Queenslanders.
"I had a text off Andrew Johns, telling me in no uncertain terms who to support. I'm in Sydney so I think I'll be supporting NSW."
Manchester United stars take in Sydney
Despite the venue recently being enlarged with extra seating, both games are already sell-outs, with ANZ staffers predicting the record of 83,702 - set during the Wallabies' recent loss to the British Lions - will be broken twice in what is shaping as our biggest sporting week since the 2000 Olympics.
Manchester United's (l-r) Rio Ferdinand, Michael Carrick, David Moyes (manager) and Ryan Giggs pose in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Picture: Adam Taylor Source: The Daily Telegraph
And why not? Man U are the footballing juggernaut that taught David Beckham to bend it, made a "sir" of Alex Ferguson and, all up, are responsible for creating more millionaires than crude oil.
An organisation boasting so much clout, even their arrival was shrouded in secrecy. Despite the team boasting some 330 million fans, O'Connor was among only a few dozen on hand after Football Federation Australia was warned to keep arrival details for media only.
It's understood FFA officials were warned that, should the crowd look anything like the heaving throng which greeted Italian star Alessandro Del Piero last year, the Red Devils would be whisked out a back door - a marketing disaster given there would be no arrival shots for the waiting media.
Manchester United fans wait outside the team's hotel in Sydney today. Picture: Adam Taylor Source: The Daily Telegraph
Which is why, once a dozen burly English minders in Man U suits had, with as many members of the Australian Federal Police, formed an exit route from the terminal, the Red Devils walked through the type of crowd that usually greets the Woolgoolga Seahorses on game day Sundays.
Stadium records ready to tumble
While the crowd was small in number, it boasted incredibly passionate fans like Greenacre couple David and Fifita Ngaue, whose five-month-old son is named after Red Devils striker Robin van Persie.
"This is little Dominic van Persie Ngaue," grinned dad, his young son wrapped in a tiny red jersey. "Our families are from Tonga originally, all leaguies. But a few years ago I was sitting up late one night bored, flicking through the TV channels, when I came across a Man U game ... and I've been hooked ever since."
Manchester United's Rio Ferdinand has his photo taken with fans David and Fifita Nagaue and their baby Dominic Van Persie (named after Man U's Robin Van Persie ) at Sydney International Airport. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: The Daily Telegraph
Kevin Dias, 29, managed to track down the right time to get his jersey signed by Rio Ferdinand, on a day when other fans were left frustrated: "I went online and checked all the airlines' flights out of Bangkok. I ruled out every one except this one because they would have left too early or too late."
Mr O'Connor said he and his wife made a "mad scramble" trying to phone as many supporters as possible. "Many people were frustrated and angry," he said. "They said 'I can't believe you're telling me this now' but I had to tell them I had just found out myself."
Manchester United fans in Sydney Airport mix-up
Fadel Issa made the dash to the airport the second he found out the team would meet the fans: "I've been a fan as long as I can remember. I love the team. I love the characters."
Manchester United still flies together, despite losing eight players in a plane crash in 1958.
Simon Black
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