By Soteris Charalambous
FROM the moment Manchester United arrive at Larnaca airport on Sunday night to when they leave next Wednesday, they will adhere to a carefully- formulated programme designed to ensure that the rigours of travel and the uncertainty of new surroundings have no bearing on how the team performs on the big night.
After securing a 3-2 victory over Olympiakos Piraeus in Athens on Wednesday the pressure is off Sir Alex Ferguson’s players to perform, with qualification secured. It is highly probable that the manager will take the opportunity to rest some of his key players, with sources suggesting that United’s Player of the Year, Ruud van Nistelrooy will not be making the trip in order to allow full recuperation from a hamstring injury. But qualification was only secured on Wednesday and all the arrangements for their game in Cyprus have been made well in advance in anticipation of it being a must-win game. The source also suggested that even Manchester United with all their resources were still keen to secure the extra prize money from UEFA, European footballs governing body, for winning the match.
In post match interviews, players were quoted as saying how they wished to maintain the team’s 100 per cent record and that qualification would have no bearing on how they performed in their final two qualifying matches.
As a venue, Cyprus represented something of a challenge to Kenneth Merrett, the club’s travel co-ordinator. Having recently played in both Athens and Leverkusen, Merret had a very clear idea of what to expect from those trips, but for Cyprus he had to arrange a security visit as well as taking time out to chose which hotels would best suit the club’s needs.
Speaking to The Times Merret discussed the factors he looked for in assessing accommodation before making his recommendations to Travel Care Sports, the agency responsible for finalising all the arrangements.
Asked what he looked for in hotel, Merrel said, “Proximity, you don’t want to travel too far to training and the ground. Although we’ve got lots of foreign players, we’re typically British and like hotels to have some English-speaking TV channels, such as movies, Eurosport and Sky News.”
On security, Merrel admitted it was sometimes a sensitive area. “We’ve travelled with our own people in the past, but we try not to if we can possibly help it. The hotels are usually very good about security and are just as keen that their other guests aren’t put out by Manchester United being here. We always ask them if they are used to having teams stay, as we have certain requirements, such as a private dining area and certain foods.”
The team have booked into Nicosia’s Hilton, while their special guests and VIPs will be staying at Limassol’s Le Meridien, both hotels demonstrating to the club their experience in dealing with the special requirements of football teams. Most recently, the Hilton hosted the French national side followed by APOEL’s opponents in the UEFA cup, the Austrian side AK Graz.
The club must have been satisfied that the hotels and facilities were more than adequate to fulfil their needs because they put in a request to the Football Association to postpone their fixture with Aston Villa on Saturday in order to be able to fly directly from Athens to Larnaca and avoid the extra air miles. The club’s request was turned down, but as Merret suggests, the travelling that players are required to do is a concern for the manager.
“We look for an aircraft that will give the players the extra legroom. That’s important, especially when we are going to places like Cyprus and Athens. We need a reasonable sized aircraft because, for games in Western Europe, we will probably take something like 14 cargo skips containing boots, kit, medical equipment and so on.”
Many of United’s fans also choose to stay in the same hotels as the club and with Maccabi Haifa agreeing to increase the ticket allocation to English fans, more than 2,000 will be expected to descend on the island for the match, even though its relevance as a game has diminished.
Ronis Soteriades, President of Manchester United’s Supporters club in Cyprus, summed up the interest in the game. “I have been responsible for ensuring my members get hold of tickets, and I have arranged the distribution of somewhere in the region of 1,000 tickets.”
The GSP are expecting a sell out for the match. Those who wish to see the Red Devils but haven’t been able to obtain a ticket could always enter our competition, details on page 39.
