Manchester United took a trip to Saudi Arabia this week to take on Saudi club Al-Halil in a tribute match “to mark the retirement of Al Hilal’s legendary Saudi international Sami al-Jaber.” Fans graced the stadium with “I Heart Man Utd” and placards were made to remind Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez what their names are. Yet, the biggest hit of the match was one Portuguese greaser named Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, whose every touch brought high-pitched screams from the Saudi supporters, tested goalkeeper Addaiya with a 20-metre strike on five minutes, but it was Al Hilal who opened the scoring five minutes later.

We could speculate that those “high-pitched screams” were whistles, but then we’d have to ignore this “hip-hop hooray” tribute Saudi men participated in during a Saudi Arabia/Qatar match last year.

Hey, man up and throw some flares on the pitch. Or at least toilet paper. That always translates into passion.

United lose on Saudi adventure [Herald Sun]
Image [Herald Sun]
Video [YouTube]