As Manchester City return home for the new season, Rich Fay’s preseason travel diary comes to a close.
If the purpose of preseason is to acclimate players to their new environments, then the heavy downpour in Seoul was ideal practice for the upcoming season in Manchester.
Rain threatened to cancel Man City’s final preseason game at the World Cup stadium, but the sky quickly cleared, giving way to a sea of sky blue as fans showed up for the match.
The rainstorm caught everyone off guard, and very few individuals had thought to bring an umbrella, let alone anything watertight. When I arrived at the press door drenched and looked like I had swum all the way from Japan, I immediately regretted my attire choice of shorts and a white t-shirt.
The closing days of the tour in South Korea appeared to be the most intense of the entire trip. Both the level of assistance and the intensity of the weather increased. The game itself was nothing to write home about, and the sellout audience seemed unimpressed.
Even though Kevin de Bruyne wasn’t one of them, City may rest easier knowing that all of the goals came after they had made significant lineup changes.
Even though the Belgian didn’t get on the field for any of the three tour games, he ended up being the fan favorite. More loudly than for any of the goals, spectators applauded whenever images of him appeared on the stadium screen.
Erling Haaland came in second. He moved the ball around well against Atletico but didn’t have many scoring opportunities, but he still made it a memorable night for the fans.
At the end of the game, he and De Bruyne did a quick lap of thanks to show their gratitude to the thousands of spectators. Haaland sprinted over to a fan waving a Norwegian flag and set off a melee when he flung his game-worn shirt over the advertising boards.
As City hurried to board their chartered flight following the delayed kickoff, there was no time to chat with manager Pep Guardiola after the game. However, there will be an opportunity to hear from him later this week when he previews the Community Shield.
The incredible demand for City in this part of the world has been made abundantly obvious by the summer tour. The bulk of fans in Seoul wore blue to show their support for Europe’s finest team, however others came in the kits of their Premier League rivals as well.
