RUUD PLAYS THE FAWNING FOREIGNER ROLE

Last updated : 06 January 2003 By editor

The ‘magic of the Cup’ saw thousands of Liars sat in front of the telly and journalists asking overseas players whether they followed the FA Cup when growing up as a kid back home.

Ruud politely obliged:

"When I joined United a lot of people told me I would notice a difference when the FA Cup games came round. It's true. It's such an amazing thing to be involved in, although you have to be part of it to experience the feeling. The last time Manchester United did well in the FA Cup was 1999. It is a massive tournament and we want to go as far as we possibly can."

As for the match itself:

"We played very well in the first-half but it wasn't reflected in the score," van Nistelrooy added. "You have to give Portsmouth credit because they made it very tough for us in the 30 minutes after half-time. They had a couple of chances during that time but fortunately they didn't take them and in the end we got a good result."