KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Manchester United began an offseason tour after its worst Premier League season in almost expected fashion, losing its first match against a Southeast Asian all-star team 1-0 in Kuala Lumpur.
The reaction was swift on Thursday, and from one of the highest places in the land.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim suggested that Manchester United could be relegated after watching the visitors lose, despite the fact they were probably affected by jet lag.
“Ouch. Man United failed to win another trophy,” Ibrahim, one of 72,500 fans at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in the Malaysian capital, wrote on social media in a post translated from Malay.
“Looks like you’re in for another tough season, hope you don’t drop to the Championship,” he added, referring to England’s second tier into which the bottom three teams in the 20-team Premier League drop into every season.
On Sunday, United finished 15th in the Premier League, its lowest ever ranking in the competition, just four days after a loss in the Europa League final to Tottenham Hotspur meant that its European season ended without a trophy.
Myanmar’s Maung Maung Lwin scored the only goal of the game Wednesday after 72 minutes to give a team made up of top players from around the southeast Asian region the win.
“To face one of the world’s top clubs and deliver such a performance — it was truly remarkable from the team,” said All-Stars coach Kim Sang-sik. “We only trained for two days, but the players looked like they had been playing together for 20 years. The team were well-organized and cohesive.”
Manchester United continues its tour in Hong Kong on Friday before matches in Sweden and the United States.
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The Associated Press
