UNITED 2 BOCA JUNIORS 0

The Indie:

It is on days like these that you understand why Sir Alex Ferguson refused to
hand over the managerial reins at Manchester United. True, the job will
always bring stress, such as Rio Ferdinand's early exit with a twisted left
ankle, which will keep him out of Wednesday's Champions' League tie and
puts his Premiership debut on Saturday in some doubt. But the good still far
outweighs the bad. While neighbouring clubs such as Bury, Oldham, and
Stockport were kicking off their Nationwide League campaigns in front of a
few loyal fans, a packed Old Trafford saw yesterday's high-profile 2-0 friendly
win over Argentina's Boca Juniors.

The fact that the game was in aid of Unicef helped swell the numbers, but you
sense that the United faithful would turn out for pretty much any occasion. Not
so yesterday's guest of honour, who is usually touring the world on behalf of
Her Majesty's secret service. Wearing a home strip with the number 007 on
his back, Roger Moore was paraded before kick-off. He was later presented
with a cheque for the entire takings of the day. Needless to say the former
James Bond star failed to keep eyebrows down when he clocked the total
amassed.

The occasion may have been for the benefit of charity, but Manchester
United's approach was competitive. Sir Alex aligned his best possible starting
XI, with only the French goalkeeper, Fabien Barthez, missing through injury.
England midfielder Paul Scholes was on the bench.

At the heart of defence, the home fans were given the first, and very short,
glimpse of the new-look partnership of Laurent Blanc and Ferdinand. The pair
were in total command of the Argentinian attackers, until injury forced
Ferdinand's retirement on 25 minutes. Meanwhile, a rejuvenated Juan
Sebastian Veron, and a much rested Roy Keane, marshalled the centre of
midfield with great aplomb. Last season's constant criticism hurt Veron, but
the South American seems determined to make his stay in England a
successful one. He played in a deeper role yesterday, patrolling in front of the
back four, and thus allowing Keane to make more penetrating runs through
the middle.

What will happen when Scholes is fully fit remains to be seen but United
looked balanced and after last season's chopping and changing, Sir Alex will
be anxious to start with a much more settled side and formation. If this friendly
is anything to go by, expect to see Beckham up and down the right flank, with
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer supporting last season's top scorer, Ruud van
Nistelrooy, in a classic 4-4-2.

It took the Dutchman all of 18 minutes to score his first goal, following
excellent work from Beckham and Veron. The latter collected a delicate chip
from the former, before clipping the ball over his opposite midfield number and
then delivering a perfect pass to Van Nistelrooy on the edge of the box. One
touch and a fortuitous bounce later, and the striker had scored a clever goal
with his left foot. The second was even more emphatic, a low, rifled right-foot
shot five minutes from the break.

The sight of United's No 10 scoring goals is nothing new, but there were
visible changes in other departments of the team. Not only did the players
look fitter, but there were also subtle variations in their play. The full-backs, for
example, pushed up much higher than last season, while Beckham was given
more freedom to roam inside. The bulk of these alterations have been
credited to the new assistant manager, Carlos Queiroz. The Portuguese
coach is said to have injected a freshness to training, bringing his own ideas
and methods. Sir Alex has always insisted that, far from being a club in
turmoil, United simply needed Latin influence. Samba football could reach the
youth team next, as Sir Alex is still looking to appoint a Brazilian. The World
Cup-winning manager, Felipe Scolari, is now available.

The friendly nature of yesterday's encounter was sullied when Carlos Alberto
Tevez was sent off for elbowing, but the win in front of nearly 56,000 fans
meant mission accomplished, for both United and Unicef agent Moore.

The Mirror:

IT was the debut from Hell for Manchester United's £30m man Rio Ferdinand.

The 56,724 Old Trafford crowd were stunned into silence as Britain's most
expensive footballer crashed out of his home debut with barely 25 minutes on
the clock.

Ferdinand badly twisted his left ankle in an accidental collision with Boca
striker Marcelo Delgado.

It will almost certainly rule him out of the Champions League third qualifying
round tie with Hungary's Zalaegerszeg on Wednesday and probably
Saturday's Premiership opener with West Brom.

There's no doubt it took the gloss off United's win in a match that was a
friendly in name only.

Two goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy gave them a comfortable win, but it all
became unsavoury in the second half after Boca's Carlos Tevez was ordered
off for elbowing Paul Scholes.

And United's injury worries were compounded by a thigh injury to Fabien
Barthez that saw him sidelined yesterday.

His deputy, Roy Carroll, was replaced in the second half by youngster Ben
Williams, but looks certain to play in Hungary.

England schemer Scholes started on the bench, but boss Sir Alex Ferguson
gave starts to three of his World Cup colleagues - Nicky Butt, David Beckham
and the unfortunate Ferdinand.

Juan Sebastian Veron started alongside skipper Roy Keane in a central
midfield role against his former club, and he had an outstanding game against
his fellow Argentines before being replaced by Scholes on 53 minutes.

Ferdinand's only significant contribution before going off was to concede a
12th-minute free-kick for a foul on Delgado two yards outside the box. The
home fans were then relieved to see Ezequiel Gonzalez curl the set-piece
wide.

Beckham made a better effort with a 25-yard free-kick three minutes later, but
Boca's outstanding keeper Roberto Abbondacieri was perfectly positioned to
save.

However, the save only delayed the inevitable.

Veron was the architect on 17 minutes, cleverly beating two men before
playing in van Nistelrooy.

The Dutchman fooled the Boca defence with his turn and then put his left-foot
shot from six yards past the floundering Abbondacieri.

But then on 25 minutes a hush descended over Old Trafford as Ferdinand
went down heavily in the home box after crashing into Delgado, and a
stretcher was summoned.

Ferdinand managed to get to his feet as chants of "Rio, Rio, Rio" echoed
around the stadium, but it was clear he was in considerable distress and he
limped down the tunnel aided by physio Rob Swire.

A surging right-wing run from Beckham produced another great chance for
van Nistelrooy, who fired in a ferocious, near-post volley, only to see
Abbondacieri parry brilliantly.

But then five minutes before the break, van Nistelrooy bagged his second with
a thundering right foot drive from the edge of the box.

United again went close when Blanc headed wide from a Beckham corner,
but Boca captain Abbondacieri continued to steal the show with a string of
superb saves to deny Veron and Scholes.

The biggest winner of the day, however, was UNICEF.

The match raised £250,000 on top of the £1m United have made for the
children's charity over the last three years.