Man Utd to tour Malaysia

Manchester United will play against the Malaysian national team on July 18 as part their pre-season Asian tour, organisers confirmed Tuesday.

“The team will arrive in Kuala Lumpur one day before the match,” San Boon Wah, managing director of Proevents, the match promoter, was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.

San said Kuala Lumpur would be the first destination for the Red Devils in their Asian Tour 2009 before the team heads to Indonesia on July 20, South Korea (July 24) and China (July 26).

Manchester United has a huge fan base in Malaysia.

Azzuddin Ahmad, general secretary of the Football Association of Malaysia, said the Malaysian team would put on their best performance against Manchester United.

“We are looking forward to the match because it will be one of the best exposures for the national team against a quality team such as MU,” he said.

It will be the Red Devils fourth tour to Malaysia since 1991. In 2001, they hammered the Malaysia selection 6-0.

The national side has fallen a long way since the heady days of the 1970s and 1980s when they regularly beat Japan and South Korea and reached two Olympics.