Man. U 4 – Juventus 1
Two of the giants of world soccer met last night at Giants Stadium, with some of the finest players on the planet roaming the pitch. And in Manchester United’s 4-1 rout of Juventus, keeper Tim Howard looked every bit like he belonged.
It was a ringing endorsement of U.S. soccer players, and a stunning statement of the Red Devils’ prowess for this season. In front of 79,005 – the largest crowd to see a soccer game at Giants Stadium – Man U dismantled a team that made last season’s Champions League final.
Howard, a 24-year-old North Brunswick, N.J., product, got his first Man U start last night at the stadium where he toiled for five-plus seasons with the MetroStars. After getting transferred to Man U for $3.7 million, Howard looked worth every penny last night.
“I thought he was excellent – very, very agile and brave,” Man U manager Sir Alex Ferguson said of Howard. “The thing we wanted was for him to have a good debut, this being his hometown. It’s a big night for him and he performed great.”
Ferguson hasn’t named a starter for Sunday’s tour finale in Philadelphia against Barcelona, much less for the season opener against the Bolton Wanderers on Aug. 16. But he gave Howard the No. 1 jersey worn by out-of-favor holdover Fabien Barthez.
The way Howard played, he could be on the way to winning a permanent starting job.
He made his first save just 28 seconds into his Man U career, off a weak dribbler by Fabrizio Miccoli. By the time he made a beautiful kick-save on forward Marco DiVaio in the 13th minute, it was clear he belonged at this level.
For their part, Manchester United put on an offensive display.
Paul Scholes got fouled just outside the box in the 24th minute, setting up a free kick from 23 yards away. Ryan Giggs stepped up and buried it for a 1-0 lead that just kept growing.
These teams split their Champions League home-and-home in February, and last night got chippy, with Paul Scholes and Roy Keane getting yellow cards in the 35th and 37th minutes, and Enzo Maresca getting a yellow for bowling over Keane. But Man U had their way with Juventus.
Scholes scored in the 57th minute. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – who has started in the departed David Beckham’s old midfield spot in two of Manchester United’s three games – passed to Juan Veron. The Argentine midfielder laid the ball off to Scholes, who easily scored.
Then Veron – who is rumored to be hammering out a $24 million transfer to big-spending Chelsea and its Russian billionaire owner – set up another score. He played a perfect pass to Ruud van Nistelrooy, who chested the ball down and drilled a world-class one-timer top shelf.
After that tally in the 60th minute, the tide turned. Two minutes later, Juve manager Marcello Lippi had seen enough and – this being a friendly – subbed liberally. He brought on seven new players, including superstars Pavel Nedved and Alessandro Del Piero.
The change was immediate. Down 3-0, Juve started to pressure Man U and pepper Howard. They finally broke through when Nedved scored a 70th-minute goal off a David Trezeguet feed. He would have headed in another score two minutes later, if not for a great, leaping save by Howard.
Solksjaer put it away with a left-footed tally in the 79th minute.
It turned into a horrid day for Juventus, which learned 74-year-old team chairman Vittorio Caissotti di Chiusano passed away yesterday in Turin. He had been with the club for 30 years, and chairman since 1990.
