Judging by the commotion which greeted the Tannoy announcement of his name last night, David Beckham is the star attraction of Manchester United's pre-season tour of South East Asia.
Beckham enjoys iconic status among the many Malaysian Manchester United fans but it is the presence of the successive British record signings, the 19.5 million sterling Ruud van Nistelrooy and 28.1 million Juan Veron, which is arousing the most interest from the travelling 100 or so fans.
Both newcomers wore the red shirt of Manchester United for the first time and helped their team beat an inexperienced Malaysia Select XI 6-0 in Kuala Lumpur before a crowd of 68,000.
Van Nistelrooy hit the bar in the first minute, scored six minutes later and followed it up with another after 36 minutes. In the meantime, Veron spent his time manoeuvring between central and right midfield, though both were withdrawn at half-time.
Andy Cole replaced Van Nistelrooy and also scored twice while David Beckham and another substitute, Luke Chadwick, got the others.
"Ruud showed a lot of composure and he will be very happy he's got a couple of goals right away," said Alex Ferguson. "I think good players like that have got an inner belief in themselves and that helps them settle into the team." The United manager then chose to contemplate his options for this his valedictory season: "Veron and Roy [Keane] is one option I have now and with Paul Scholes that gives me an another option. We will start blending together different options and play different formations."
United are currently the most popular team in the peninsula, followed by Liverpool, who also enjoy substantial support, but it is not uncommon to see Arsenal, Newcastle and Chelsea shirts being worn on the streets of Kuala Lumpur.
"We're here to get closer to our fan base," said marketing director Peter Draper. "If we can turn our support out here into some kind of transaction then great. We've raised £70,000 at a charity dinner on Friday, had football clinics out here and the players are involved in all kinds of work with the local communities."
