Fresh from a four nil drubbing of Orlando Pirates, the Manchester United contingent were greeted by a number of both Amakhosi and their own fans upon arrival at Cape Town International arrival on Sunday afternoon.

United were then whisked away and were taken to their luxurious five star hotel at the Water Front in Cape Town, amidst a sea of police sirens and a security escort that would usually accompany a visiting head of state.

Such is the popularity of the 15 times English League opponents that they are followed by hordes of fans no matter in the world they play. This has once again rung true for them as United rivalled The Buccaneers in terms of supporter numbers in the opening game of the Vodacom Challenge on Saturday.

Upon United’s arrival at their Water Front hotel they were greeted by Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Frank Eulberg, who had made the journey from Chiefs base outside of Cape Town to meet Amakhosi’s visitors.

Frank was then introduced to Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson, who embraced Amakhosi assistant coach and added “for me Cape Town is like coming home, I have been here a number of times and my son is married to a lovely lady from this beautiful city”.

The conversation then drifted to Saturday’s encounter were Ferguson lauded on some praise on Pirates saying “they have a number of good fast players who are very speedy and that impressed me”.

The Chiefs assistant coach then had the good fortune of meeting former Bafana Bafana coach and current Manchester United assistant coach Carlos Queiroz.

Manchester United are probably the best supported team in the world. And one would not expect them to travel lightly as a special vehicle was needed to transport the teams luggage from the airport to their hotel, as the touring party comprises of some 50 people, 19 of which are players and the remainder being support staff.

United are also being followed around by a group of journalist who have been covering the team's every move since their arrival in the country and have been relaying information of the tour back home to the United Kingdom.