Manchester United fan M.K. MEGAN tells us about his visit to the ‘temple’ – Old Trafford.

Meeting top MU players at Old Trafford was a dream come true for the writer (left) seen here with Ronaldo.

IT is called the Temple of Football or the mecca of football. But the Theatre of Dreams in Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain, no matter what it is called, is indeed a spectacular sight, full of history and memories.

Many articles have been written about the “temple” and everyone who has visited it always has a story to tell. The museum, the dressing room, the terraces, and the Red Devils theme that greets you.

Walking around Old Trafford with the MU logo everywhere and the words “Manchester United” etched all over the stadium gives the feeling that one has “arrived”.

As Sir Bobby Charlton, the ambassador of MU club, put it while addressing a group of visiting journalists recently: “Football in this great sensational Manchester City is a religion and Old Trafford is the temple.”
Going by that, visiting Old Trafford for a MU fan has to be a pilgrimage of sorts.

For me, the visit to the Theatre of Dreams recently was a little more special.

I had, at my disposal to interview, six of the top players, including the newly-crowned FifaPro world footballer award winner, Christiano Ronaldo.

That dream was made possible by Hublot.

Hublot who? In Malaysia, Hublot is not as well-known as in Singapore or Europe. The Swiss watchmaker was almost bankrupt just three-and-a- half years ago but today, it has made a tremendous turnaround, thanks to its new chief executive officer, Jean-Claude Biver.

In conjunction with MU’s 130th anniversary recently, Hublot was made the official timekeeper for the Red Devils. A deal that is said to be worth millions of dollars.

In conjunction with the tie-up, Hublot also introduced its Big Bang Red Devils limited-edition watches. There are 500 pieces and each is priced at more than RM40,000 and all the watches have been snapped up.

At the grand launch held at Old Trafford, six top players namely Ronaldo, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Park Joo Sung, Carlos Tevez and Luis Anderson as well as maestro Sir Alex Ferguson were present.

After the launch, the journalists were given 10 minutes with each player for a one-on-one interview.

Ronaldo and Giggs were friendly and candid. Both were in a jovial mood and even enquired about Malaysia (Giggs said he loves KL).

Ronaldo said that scoring goals is better than having sex. “Well, at least in some matches, especially the Champions League,” he said with a broad smile.

“The degree differs from match to match but it is generally a feeling of ecstasy. I might have scored many goals in my career but that ecstatic feeling is always there with every new goal.”

On his frustrations when he does not receive a pass or when he doesn’t pass the ball to a teammate who is in a better position to score, Ronaldo says: “In life we have to try. If we never try we never get the results. Just like when we like a girl ... we have to attempt to attract her. If we don’t, we will never know if she likes us. Sometimes it may not be the best decision but we have to live with it,” he said.

Giggs was open about the direction the English Premier League was heading. “It is not British football anymore,” he lamented, when asked about the presence of the many foreigners in the league.

“When I started playing top level games in the ’90s, there were not many foreign players.

“Then, football in England was played in a typical British way. There was a certain identity to it. Today, we cannot say the same. Almost all the teams have foreign players and when they play together the identity of British football is gone.”

And why are there not many Asian players making it big in the English Premier League?

Park Joo Sung, one of the longest surviving Asian players in one of the top-flight teams says: “It is the mentality.

“Asian players refuse to change their ways of playing football. They want to play the way they play in Asia. But in England or Europe, it is a different ball game.

“It is also not that we are physically inferior or we lack skills. We (Asian) can match the Europeans in all aspects but it is the mentality of the Asian players that needs to be changed.”

When asked if he too was subjected to racism like what the players of African descent go through, Park said when he was playing in the Dutch league, he was initially subjected to some form of discrimination though he was reluctant to classify it as “racism”.

“After I had proved that I was willing to work hard on the pitch, they started to respect me... even now in Manchester, I am well-respected.”

Asked about his life back home in Korea, Park said it has changed drastically. “I cannot walk around without being noticed. Many people want to take pictures with me or get my autograph.”

The three and even Ferdinand and Anderson, whom I did not get to interview due to the time factor, were accommodating to the reporters. Except for Teves who swore when he was asked to return to the interview room because a television crew arrived late.

It was just a short visit — two days — but it was certainly well worth it.