Fan reaction to Schmeichel's visit to Hong Kong shows depth of support

Peter Schmeichel hadn't even officially entered Hong Kong before fans descended.

As the Manchester United legend approached immigration on his visit to launch the club's friendly with Kitchee, the officer in charge abandoned his booth to get a photo, while those queueing behind presumably wished they had chosen differently.

"I'm not sure I should tell you this," Schmeichel joked. "Even his supervisor was taking pictures."

It is that fandom that makes Kitchee boss Ken Ng Kin confident the friendly, at Hong Kong Stadium on July 29, will be a 40,000 sell-out, but he isn't expecting his club to profit.

The government's Mega Events Fund has contributed HK$8 million to help cover United's appearance fee, believed to be easily the largest such fee for a local sporting event. The Tourism Commission believes the city will benefit from 8,000 visitors travelling for the match.

"I think we have a competition going, we are debating how many minutes or hours it will take for all the tickets to go," said Ng. "As a matter of fact everybody in my company is questioning how come they're not going to get their normal allocation."

Prices for United are between HK$390 and HK$990. Kitchee do not expect to profit from the match, but hope to raise money from ancillary events.