It was post the 2002 World cup final when I started to follow soccer and more specifically Manchester United matches. My love for cricket as the No. 1 sport was on the decline, Soccer started becoming a sport I used to religiously follow even though the match timings were not always in sync with our body clocks. My love for Man Utd was due to the then big stars (Beckham, Giggs, Scholes and many more) and due to the fact that EPL was the most widely telecasted soccer league in India and Asia.
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During that time, Man Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool used to be the major title contenders and 10 years forth Man Utd remains at the top where other teams have been jostling for positions and are struggling to compete against Man Utd.
The First moment still etched in my memory was Utd winning the Epl title in (03-04) which was incidentally Beckhams last medal for United. He went on to join the Galacticos at Real Madrid where the likes of Zidane, Raul, Figo and Carlos were at their peak. Despite my love for Beckham, my loyalties did not change and always supported Man Utd to the hilt.
That time we used to hear in the commentary, Ferdinand to Neville to Keane to Beckham and Van nistelrooy scores for Man Utd. But gradually Fergie as always made sure that no player was bigger than the club and hence bought a young 18 year old unknown Portugese called as Cristiano Ronaldo who went on to become one of the greatest no. 7 for Man Utd. He also bought in Wayne Rooney and both of them terrorized defenses during their time together from 2003 to 2009.
In between lot of players came and went(including some flop transfers like Djemba Djemba, Forlan,Veron) and others who dared to act against fergie(Van nistelrooy, tevez ,Berbatov), but the core group remained the same, winning mentality never changed, and the last minute goals and comebacks so characteristic of Man Utd made sure we never switched off our Televisions. We have seen tremendous highs and some lows as well during this time. From the treble in (1999-2000) and winning a hatrick of Epl titles from (2006-2009), beating Chelsea in the rain soaked final in Moscow ,Knocking Liverpool from being the most successful British club(overtook them to get 19 titles) and the latest being this season 2012-2013 where we threw City from top of the perch in the league.
We also have faced several lows where we lost badly to Barcelona (twice in Champions league final), I still remember that night I saluted Barcelona for the team they had and they way they beat us. Also City beating us 6-1 at Old Trafford was another day I would like to forget (No team has beaten Utd at home so convincingly), Losing to City last year on Goal difference was one more painful experience and finally Ferguson leaving after 26 years in charge was a big low and a highly emotional moment for me since I think the person who has succeeded him does not have the capability/traits and will always be compared with the Scottish man and thus is bound to fail.
I hope United find a good manager (they should have grabbed Mourinho with both hands) and they are able to find suitable replacements for Giggs and Scholes. However in this transition period, I will continue to support United and before I die will make sure that I visit the Theatre of Dreams (Old Trafford) once.
