NEW YORK – Manchester United confirmed Thursday that superstars Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and Gary Neville will be among the players included in their final travel roster for this month’s North American tour.
Edwin van der Sar, Darren Fletcher and Dimitar Berbatov were also confirmed through an official announcement Thursday from the Red Devils, who will open their four-date tour on July 16 against Scottish side Celtic FC at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.
“Winning is part of what we have to do here, but the main object is to get everyone game time, come back ready, fit to start the season,” Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said.
The English Premier League runners-up will take on the Philadelphia Union at Lincoln Financial Field on July 21, followed by a match against the Kansas City Wizards at Arrowhead Stadium on July 25.
The tour wraps up with a marquee matchup against the MLS All-Stars in the 2010 AT&T MLS All-Star game at Reliant Stadium in Houston on July 28.
“American soccer is starting to make an impact and it’s so improved,” Ferguson said. “I made that point about the United States team before the World Cup. I said they were going to play like real athletes – the guys are fit, committed, they believe in themselves. I think American football is that way – they’re all fit, athletic, they’ve got [a good feel for] the pitch. You can see that there’s improvement in MLS. I’ve spoken to many people in the last few months about that and there’s a big upsurge."
United captain Neville, a two-time World Cup veteran for England, said he's looking forward to the competition in all three games on the tour.
“It’s always a tough game between us and Celtic," Neville said. "Then you’ve got the other two games against local teams, [who will] be fighting to play the biggest games in their lives against Man United. They’re all really competitive games for different reasons, which should be good for us to get fit, competitive football before the start of the season.”
