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INLSA<\/p>\n
Manchester United supporters turned Durbans Moses Mabhida Stadium red last night, overpowering the sprinkling of AmaZulu fans. Thousands donned their red shirts and scarves while others went a notch higher, sporting face paint and horns in support of the Red Devils. Picture: Sibonelo Ngcobo<\/p>\n
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Manchester United supporters turned out in their thousands for the friendly soccer match against AmaZulu last night, turning the stands at Durban\u2019s Moses Mabhida Stadium into a sea of red. <\/p>\n
The match finished with the score 1-0 to the English visitors after Frederico Macheda\u2019s first-half goal which had the crowd on their feet. <\/p>\n
Traffic before the match was backed up on roads leading to the |stadium as metro police directed |motorists. <\/p>\n
Supporters were treated to thumping music by a DJ while they watched the players warm up. <\/p>\n
A song was sung before kick-off in honour of former president Nelson Mandela\u2019s 94th birthday yesterday . <\/p>\n
Education MEC Senzo Mchunu, Premier Zweli Mkhize, eThekwini mayor James Nxumalo and Public |Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba, former police commissioner Bheki Cele, council Speaker Logie Naidoo and City Manager Sibusiso Sithole were among the enthusiastic VIPS who attended the match. <\/p>\n
Home side AmaZulu wore their new blue and white kit, while United had on their traditional red and white shirts. <\/p>\n
The Red Devils\u2019 fans stuck to red with their supporters\u2019 gear, while AmaZulu supporters opted for their side\u2019s usual green and white shirts, with some painting their faces green. <\/p>\n
United supporters painted their faces with the team\u2019s logo, while some sported red devil horns, team scarves and glowing glasses to show their support. <\/p>\n
Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson said he was satisfied with the result. \u201cAmaZulu showed a lot of heart. It was a privilege to sing to Mandela and it was a special day,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
AmaZulu coach Roger Palmgren said he thought it had been a good match, despite their being underdogs to one of the world\u2019s most famous teams. <\/p>\n
Nxumalo thanked both teams for playing in Durban and said he hoped the visitors would return next year. <\/p>\n
Although AmaZulu were outplayed, their fans kept their sense humour. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is all about the spirit of the game, said supporter Veli Mdletshe. <\/p>\n
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Gary Bailey surprised fans when he mingled with the crowd and they quickly queued for photographs and his autograph. <\/p>\n
Manchester United are touring the country as part of the team\u2019s off-season preparations. <\/p>\n
Organisers said that 51 000 tickets had been sold for last night\u2019s match, the visitors first of the tour. <\/p>\n
Manchester United face Premier Soccer League side Ajax at the Cape Town Stadium at 3pm on Saturday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INLSA Manchester United supporters turned Durbans Moses Mabhida Stadium red last night, overpowering the sprinkling of AmaZulu fans. Thousands donned their red shirts and scarves while others went a notch higher, sporting face paint and horns in support of the Red Devils. Picture: Sibonelo Ngcobo Manchester United supporters turned out in their thousands for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-12563","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12563\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}