PORTLAND, Oregon, July 19 (Reuters) - Manchester United arrived on Saturday for their pre-season tour of north America -- a trip described as the English club's bid to conquer the "final frontier" of soccer.
United, premier league champions for eight of the last 11 seasons, have an estimated 53 million fans worldwide but are anything but a household name in the U.S.
The club's board of directors, led by chief executive Peter Kenyon, hope the four-game, 16-day tour will help establish the United 'brand' in the most mouth-watering of markets.
But early signs suggest the behemoth that is Manchester United marketing may have met its match in the notoriously soccer-wary States.
Waiting for the array of multi-million pound talent at Portland airport on Saturday were 12 fans and one American television reporter.
The distinct lack of hysteria -- in contrast to their previous forays into the Far East -- made a mockery of the club's decision to secretly whisk the players direct from the plane to their downtown hotel.
When they do emerge they may notice the current issue of Men's Journal magazine on American newsstands -- bearing the face of erstwhile United midfielder David Beckham on the cover.
The magazine introduced Beckham to their readers as "the most famous athlete in the world". Indeed, now the England captain has been transferred to Real Madrid, United will have to work extra hard to captivate a new audience.
On Saturday, the people of Portland were more consumed with a weekend of Highland Scottish Games and, although traffic was stopped in the city centre, it was for a parade of soldiers returning from war in Iraq.
Kenyon, however, has said the tour was never planned around an "individual player" -- Beckham -- and is confident United can make inroads into the American psyche.
He points to the fact that three of the four games, against Celtic in Seattle on Tuesday, against Juventus in New Jersey on July 31 and against Barcelona in Philadelphia on August 3, sold out within two days.
The crowd for their other match, against Club America in Los Angeles on July 27, could also top 60,000.
"The tour was planned on the basis it would sell out but to do it so quickly was a surprise and an indication we had got the planning right," Kenyon said recently.
The inclusion of new signing Tim Howard should turn heads. Howard, the U.S. goalkeeper, moved to United from Major League Soccer side New York/New Jersey MetroStars this month, although he will not join up with the squad until their arrival in New York on July 28.
With other new recruit Eric Djemba-Djemba also absent after being given time to rest following his exertions for Cameroon in the Confederations Cup, the only new face in the 20-man squad to touch down in Portland was Frenchman David Bellion.