Ngannou among stars at United v Dortmund
While Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund provided the entertainment on the pitch, the stars were out among the spectators at our final match of Tour 2023 in Las Vegas.
The game – which took place on Sunday evening in the United States – came the day after the much-anticipated boxing match between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr just across the road from Allegiant Stadium, which may have been the reason for a fighting theme to the familiar faces we spotted in the crowd.
Boxers Chris Eubank Jr and Joe Joyce were kind enough to say hello to MUTV before the game, as was fellow professional fighter Francis Ngannou, who made no secret about who he was supporting on the evening, donning our new adidas home shirt, while watching on in Nevada.
Francis Ngannou gives his prediction
Prominent fighter Francis Ngannou discusses meeting Andre Onana and predicts United v Dortmund...
One thing that Ngannou did joke about keeping quiet about on the night, however, was “United’s favourite heavyweight boxer” being “in the building”, in what was a light-hearted dig at his next opponent, Reds supporter Tyson Fury, via social media.
The former UFC champion is currently getting ready for his debut in the ring against Fury in October, and while taking some time out to watch United’s match in Vegas, he expressed to our club channel how much he appreciated getting a magnified view of some fellow athletes doing their thing.
“It’s really cool, really amazing,” he began, speaking pitchside to Zarah Connolly, Danny Webber and Andy Cole.
“It’s not often you go to the stadium, and you get to watch training and everything very close.
“I think they [United] have been doing it pretty good, they understand the hard work. In sport, you don’t fool people, if you cheat, you cheat on yourself and when you get the work done, the results follow.”
New signing Andre Onana, of course, hails from the African nation, and the two were seen having what looked a warm embrace pitchside, before the match started.
“It might sound weird, but no [I’ve never met Onana before],” Ngannou told MUTV, while watching pictures of his warm interaction with our new goalkeeper.
“This is my very first time meeting him, we have spoken over the phone because we are from the same country but, personally, I haven’t met him before. This was our first interaction physically.”
When Ngannou met the Reds
GalleryRevisit our collision with Francis from July, ahead of the heavyweight's scheduled fight with Britain's Anthony Joshua.
The two looked to have a good chemistry between them however, and the fighter also looked to enjoy meeting Andre's team-mates, as you can see from the images in the gallery above.
Ngannou is known to be a fan of the game, although his ability with a ball at his feet is not something he says he will shout about!
“I’m not that good,” he admitted in our interview, with a smile on his face.
“I grew up playing football, but I’m not that good at it. I know when I’m not good at it, I know when I’m better [at something]!”