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Beckham belief in United's 'desire'

Glenn Moore
Wednesday 14 August 2002 00:00 BST
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Manchester United's footballers had only to look out of their window yesterday afternoon to appreciate their good fortune. Outside the Intercontinental Hotel, atop one of the two towers of the Szechenyi Chain bridge, was a prospective suicide. As traffic was halted, creating gridlock in downtown Budapest, police and fire crews talked the solitary figure down from above the Danube.

While the presence of Stan Collymore among the accompanying media was a reminder that wealth and fame are no bar to depression, United's footballers have it better than most. The question, as they embark upon their 17th season under Sir Alex Ferguson's management, is whether success and its rewards have dulled their competitive edge.

Roy Keane, whose own fire still rages, but who has also had to cope with internal demons, suggests in his autobiography that for some players the Rolexes, fast cars and mansions have slaked their thirst. Ferguson, who also continues to burn with desire, said much the same last week.

Such a view, David Beckham said yesterday, was mistaken. The England captain, who later made it clear he was referring to media criticism, not to comments by Keane or Ferguson, said: "Our hunger and desire can never be questioned with the manager we have got. Anyone who questions the desire of any Manchester United player is in the wrong.

"The nature of the players is that the hunger and desire gets stronger each year. Last year was disappointing and we want to put that right.''

The disappointments of last year are the reason United are here. For the first time since 1999 (when they went on to win the competition) they have to pre-qualify for the Champions League. Failure to do so would, admitted Ferguson yesterday, "be an absolute disaster."

It would also be a shock to rank among any in the competition's history. Their opponents, Zalaegerszeg, are rank outsiders, surprised to get here and delighted to have drawn United. The income generated by tonight's match will cover 40 per cent of their annual budget.

Until last season Zalaegerszeg, who hail from a ceramics town in Hungary's south-west, have played for 80 years without reward. Some shrewd investments and the appointment of Peter Bozsik, son of former Hungarian legend Joszef (one of the golden generation which won 6-3 at Wembley), took them to the title. However, having had to sell their leading scorer, Robert Waltner, to Boca Juniors, they did not expect to prosper in Europe. None of their players featured in the World Cup and their only footballers of note are Otto Vincze, who occasionally played for the German team Cottbus last season and Sasa Ilic, the former Charlton goalkeeper. Ilic, who conceded six goals in two appearances against United, had one game last season, on loan to West Ham. He let in four.

Thus, when a late penalty defeated Croatia Zagreb on away goals in the second qualifying round, even Zalaegerszeg's players were surprised. "They were by far the better team,'' Darko Ljubojevic said.

Ground improvements meant Zalaegerszeg have had to move their matches to Budapest and the lure of United – the 28,000 tickets sold out in two days – prompted a further switch to the famous Nep Stadium, now renamed in honour of Ferenc Puskas. Ferguson admitted the switch was likely to help his team.

Fabien Barthez, Rio Ferdinand and Gary Neville are all absent with injury but Ferguson said he was confident their deputies, Roy Carroll, John O'Shea and Wes Brown could handle the tie. His selection conundrum, as usual, is in midfield, with Paul Scholes expected to miss out, while Ryan Giggs supports Ruud van Nistelrooy up front. Zalaegerszeg are without their centre-half Gergely Kocsardi, who was sent off against Zagreb.

Though United are rusty, Ferguson said: "If we are not focused they will cause us problems but if we do our job properly we should win.'' He added: "Sometimes defeat can be good for you. We had a defeat last year but we still have the quality and I am confident we can come back.'' The journey starts by the Danube tonight.

Zalaegerszeg (probable): Ilic; Csoka, Urban, Budisa, Szamosi; Babati, Ljubojevic, Vincze, Egressy; Farago, Kenesei.

Manchester United (probable): Carroll; Brown, Blanc, O'Shea, Silvestre; Beckham, Keane, Butt, Veron; Giggs; Van Nistelrooy.

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