Manchester United send scout to Iceland to watch match – only to discover it was being played in Qatar
Premier League club representative travelled to watch Iceland take on Czech Republic but arrived to an empty stadium with the game being played 5,500 miles away
MANCHESTER UNITED sent a scout to watch a game in Iceland - even though it was being played in Qatar.
The Premier League club were keen to have someone in place to run the rule over Iceland's friendly against Czech Republic yesterday.
They applied directly to the Icelandic Football Association for a match ticket which was happily issued to them.
But when the scout arrived at the national stadium in Reykjavik to collect his accreditation he was stunned to discover the lights off and turnstiles locked.
The United rep, understood to have travelled from Denmark for the day, was then shocked to discover the game was actually being played 5,500 miles away in Doha.
Icelandic site Fotbolti.net says the scout then had to settle for a night in the freezing temperatures of Reykjavik instead of the 30 degree heat of Qatar.
There have been no indications whether United had intended to watch any one player in particular or if they were just seeing the talent on show.
But since Jose Mourinho arrived at Old Trafford the club has worked hard to beef up their scouting operation.
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Mourinho believed United were missing out on promising players to rival sides because the department was not working efficiently.
Shortly after he took charge of the club he raided Juventus for their highly-rated talent spotter Javier Ribalta.
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The Spaniard was brought in to head up the new-look scouting operation at Old Trafford, having been credited for helping find the players that made Juve such a dominant force in Italy.
And earlier this season the Premier League club poached Lech Poznan's Piotr Sadowski to oversee their system in central and east Europe.
The actual match played in Qatar saw Iceland begin their preparations for the World Cup with a 2-1 defeat.