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England star set for Irish return
Manchester United, 21:27, July 22, 2010 ,
Wayne Rooney could make a surprise appearance for Manchester United in their friendly against an Aircity League XI on August 4th.
The England striker and his international team-mates are not due to return to training until Wednesday after their involvement in the World Cup in South Africa, but United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is refusing to rule them all out of the game in Dublin.
The fixture is the first football match to be played at the Aviva Stadium and the inclusion of Rooney would certainly give the occasion some added spice.
He said: "They have a chance of playing in that. It depends on their progress when they come back on July 28."
Rooney endured a disappointing World Cup with England, exiting the tournament at the last 16 stage following the 4-1 defeat by Germany.
It was an unexpected setback for the player given he had scored 34 goals in all competitions for United last season. Apart from Rooney, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra, Park Ji-sung and Nemanja Vidic could all come into contention for the showpiece match.
United have a number of injuries with Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville, Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia, Owen Hargreaves and Anderson all absent from the summer tour.
Meanwhile Ferguson said he "could not clarify" Vidic's future with the Serbian defender linked to a move away from Old Trafford.
When pressed on whether Vidic would be a Manchester United player next season, Ferguson responded: "I believe so."