Rio De Janeiro, January 7: After struggling to hold Mexican Side Necaxa to a 1-1 draw, Manchester United could not have got off to a worse start in the World Club Championships in Brazil.The lacklustre performance in the Maracana Stadium prompted a Brazil Sport-TV channel commentator to remark sarcastically: ``They're supposed to be the best team in the world?''The Mexicans' neat passing game met a rousing chorus of ``Ole, Ole'' from approving Brazilian fans while Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson was heard muttering on the way to the changing rooms that he was ``disappointed'' with his own team's showing.The match could have a complete washout for United had Dwight Yorke not equalised seven minutes before the final whistle. He managed to salvage a point but not the honour of his teammate David Beckham. To a chorus of boos and chanting Beckham was sent off in the 43rd minute after what was judged to be a crass high tackle on Jose Milian.Beckham was banned for one match and fined 2,000 SwissFrancs while his offence was designated as serious foul play.Alex Ferguson, the United manager, got a one-match ban, meaning he cannot sit in the dug-out against Vasco da Gama tomorrow. He was also fined 5,000 Swiss Francs for ``unacceptable behaviour''. Opinions ranged today on whether Beckham's dramatic lunge in the direction of the other player's thigh was a blatant display of studs-first thuggery or just a reckless tackle that went wrong.Beckham last saw `red' in the 1998 World Cup in England's match against Argentina but he must have hoped those dark days were behind him.Beckham's Brazilian sojourn started on a sour note after superstar Ronaldo started making wisecracks following a remark by Beckham's wife, Spice girl Victoria Adams, that he liked to dress up in her underwear.``Only Kiwis (homosexuals) do that,'' said Ronaldo snidely after the remarks in England were retracted too late to stop Brazil's media making a meal of them.Manchester United's players have only themselves to blame forthe brickbats and not just because of the lacklustre performance against the Mexicans.They can blame the pitch and high evening temperatures as much as they like but there is no getting away from the fact that the English team the richest in soccer arrived here in a swaggering mood and were quickly dubbed the ``bad boys'' of the contest by the Brazilian papers.A press boycott of the Manchester United players even enraged British journalists. ``We only came here because the World Cup 2006 forced us to,'' said club president Martin Edwards.Journalists and fans have allegedly been elbowed aside to make way for Beckham, Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole and Co. to stroll along the beach in Rio, and Beckham reportedly shouted at one photographer, ``I'll chuck you in the sea''. It's a far cry from the grassroots support for Necaxa, whose players hand out jerseys and balls in the city's poor quarters.Whether Beckham will be in the line-up of the key Group B game against Vasco Da Gama, Rio De Janeiro's Brazilian`Dream Team' must now be decided by a FIFA discplinary committee.``Manchester didn't play very well today but we'll have to improve a lot if we want to win on Saturday,'' admitted new Vasco signing Romario after a 2-0 victory over the Australians of South Melbourne.
