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“I enjoy [the confrontational side] because of the passion and determination involved,” he told Neil Manthorp last month.He said it is the job of a batsman who represents his country to dominate the bowler: “You’ve got to do all you can to get the upper hand.” Yesterday he did all he could and it was quite enough.. Roy Keane has no time for anyone who thinks that Ronaldinho’s decision to head for Barcelona rather than Old Trafford was Manchester United’s loss. “Anyone who doesn’t want to come to Manchester United needs their head examining,” is his typically forthright view. Then he signed for Barcelona.”I don’t want to be disrespectful to anyone, but any player who doesn’t really want to come to Manchester United needs their head examining,” Keane told Manchester United TV. “Obviously there are agents and other people involved, but to me Manchester United is the only choice, and that’s above any other club in the world.”Ferguson could yet add a Brazilian international to his squad, so long as Kleberson really is committed to signing, and provided he can secure a work permit.The rumours surrounding a move by Newcastle United’s Kieron Dyer were cranked up yesterday when the New-castle chief executive, Freddy Shepherd, flew to Los Angeles at a time when United were due in town for the second game of their US tour against Mexico’s Club America at the Coliseum today. Doubts about the move centre on Ferguson’s willingness to pay £25m for a player who appears susceptible to injury.Chelsea and their billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich, were also linked with Dyer, but if he went to United that might rekindle the possibility of Juan Sebastian Veron going to Stamford Bridge.Another player thought to be interesting the west London club, Roy Makaay, could be leaving Deportivo La Coru?or Bayern Munich, although the Germans are a little perplexed by the absence of any response to their approach.

“We made an offer two weeks ago, which was under €18 million (£12m), and since we have not heard anything,” Uli Hoeness, Bayern’s commercial manager, said.But Makaay, top scorer in the Spanish First Division last season with 29 goals, told a Munich newspaper: “My goal for the upcoming season is to be as valuable for Bayern as I was for Deportivo. I’m certain that I will have a lot of fun in the Bundesliga.”Life as a striker can be confusing, even if you are not looking for a move. Birmingham’s Stern John, who hit the headlines for not scoring against Newcastle in the Asia Cup when confronted by an open goal, proved that he can hit the target by scoring with the first two goals in a 4-0 win over Malaysia.”I feel a bit better. I missed an easy chance in the first game and I think I’ve made up for it today,” the Trinidad and Tobago international said. “I got a lot of stick from the guys, and walking round town last night everyone was just laughing at me – but I feel better now. I wanted to score tonight to give myself confidence going into the season.”Goals from Stephen Clemence and Bryan Hughes in the last 15 minutes wrapped up the win, but there was also bad news for Birmingham’s manager, Steve Bruce. The French striker Christophe Dugarry missed the match because of what Bruce described as “a slightly sore knee”.

The French World Cup winner, who was substituted after an hour in Birmingham’s defeat by Newcastle on Thursday, is expected to recover quickly.Abel Xavier, the Portuguese defender, has been on a year’s loan from Liverpool to Galatasaray, but the Turkish club will not be keeping him any longer.. Despite Uefa’s best protestations, the mixed-zone concept has never been fully embraced by European stars. In theory, players should briefly mingle with journalists after each Champions’ League fixture to offer their thoughts on the game In reality, that seldom happens. Some are more inclined than others, but Manchester United have never hurried to put on their Calvin Kleins to face questions. With US sports journalists accustomed to locker-room access and fully expecting the same level of co-operation from the visiting players, something had to change: it did.Roy Keane was all smiles and graces as he fronted a bank of tiny microphones, while Ruud van Nistelrooy waxed lyrical about Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s telling contribution on the right, and would have probably discussed the Maastricht Treaty had somebody asked the question In the end, the Dutchman had to be ushered away to eat. Other players weren’t so inclined, and loitered like naughty schoolboys, but they’ll learn from their more accomplished peers if their employers have their way.For all their networking and tie-ups with American sponsors, United hit the ground running in the States last week.

Offering more substance than the Beckhams, they undertook an ingenious media charm offensive. Want a word with Sir Bobby Charlton, one of the central characters in the tragedy-to-triumph history of the club the local newspapers have been flagging up? No problem. A quote from Ferguson, chief executive Peter Kenyon or marketing director Peter Draper? Fine. United are winning friends, but the week’s most personable performance came from Celtic’s Martin O’Neill, who joked with the American media about their obsession with strange sports. Like baseball and basketball.The United circus may have offloaded their star clown to Madrid, but the team always supersedes the individual, the quality of the football being the ultimate benchmark Against Celtic, United were quality. Ten thousand Canadians were present in the 66,722 crowd, among them the Vancouver Whitecaps team.