Ronaldo set to miss Far East tour Saturday July 23, 2005
Ronaldo misses tour
Cristiano Ronaldo seems increasingly likely to miss Manchester United's entire Far East tour.
The young Portuguese winger was given permission to return home instead of flying to Hong Kong with the remainder of United's squad on Thursday after learning his father had fallen seriously ill.
It was expected Ronaldo's departure would just be delayed by 24 hours but with no immediate change in his father's condition and Sir Alex Ferguson mindful of the draining nature of the 12-hour flight, Ronaldo may now be excused the 10-day tour altogether.
A final decision has yet to be taken but at best the 20-year-old will head straight to China, which would make him a doubt for Tuesday's sell-out encounter with Beijing Hyundai.
The 24 members of the United squad who did arrive in Hong Kong were treated to the usual rapturous reception as they landed, with more fans waiting to greet them outside their team hotel, at least 20 hours after the players had headed to their rooms.
Although the Red Devils' star has waned on the domestic and European front in recent years, they remain the Far East's most popular side and the enthusiasm for the trip has only been heightened by the presence of Chinese youngster Dong Fangzhou and new South Korean capture Park Ji-Sung in their party.
Dong has spent all his United career to date on loan at Belgian feeder club Royal Antwerp but Ferguson has promised he will play in Beijing, while Park, a £4million capture from PSV Eindhoven, should start Saturday's encounter with the Hong Kong national XI.
