Alex Ferguson last night unveiled a third international outfield player to complement Ruud van Nistelrooy and Juan Veron.

Fabien Barthez, who has winners' medals from the World Cup and European Championship as a goalkeeper, made an appearance on the left wing in a surprise substitution by United's manager in his team's 8-1 win over Team Singapore yesterday.

"We know he's a very capable footballer," said Ferguson.

United's public-relations shortcomings have been well documented in recent years, but this was a masterstroke.

Van Nistelrooy should have converted two first-half chances but United still led 3-1 at the interval. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Dwight Yorke each scored twice with David Beckham, Phil Neville, Van Nistelrooy and Ryan Giggs registering the others.

Veron was named man of the match. "He expressed himself more," Ferguson said later. "His composure is very good and his imagination is very good. Good players only need a couple of games to settle."

The enthusiasm of the Singapore Reds cannot be called into question. The fervour was not limited to the fans. At a press conference on Monday local journalists were visibly in awe of Ferguson.

The United manager appeared mildly perplexed. He had just been asked in all seriousness if Posh Spice was around and whether he had a selection policy that saw the better-looking players selected ahead of uglier team-mates. Not surprisingly, neither question elicited an answer.