Sir Alex and the lads coming across the pond

Manchester United is coming to the United States after the World Cup so plan your social lives accordingly. The Red Devils will have stops in Toronto, Philadelphia and Kansas City against Celtic and two MLS teams there while also playing the MLS All-Stars in Houston at Reliant Stadium on July 28.

Man. U plays Celtic in Toronto on July 16 at the Rogers Center. Then they'll play the Philadelphia Union on July 21 at Lincoln Financial Field and the Kansas City Wizards July 25 at Arrowhead Stadium.

"It's great to be going back to North America," manager Alex Ferguson said. "I enjoyed the last two tours there in 2003 and 2004 immensely. The quality of the facilities is outstanding and there is real enthusiasm in the crowds."

Manchester United could be missing its World Cup-bound players, a group that includes English forward Wayne Rooney and defender Rio Ferdinand, Portuguese midfielder Nani, French defender Patrice Evra and Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic. They are likely to be allowed to report late for training ahead of Premier League openers on Aug. 14-15.

Manchester United also had U.S. tours in 1950, 1952, 1960, 1970, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 2003 and 2004. On its last trip to the U.S., it brought a roster filled mostly with young players.

United said its roster will include Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Edwin van der Sar, Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, John O'Shea, Antonio Valencia, Federico Macheda and brothers Rafael da Silva and Fabio da Silva.

The club is owned by the Glazer family, owner of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The tour will be promoted by Major League Soccer and the Creative Artists Agency.

Manchester City, Tottenham, Glasgow Rangers, Valencia and Sporting Lisbon also have planned preseason tours. AC Milan, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain, Legia Warsaw and Red Star Belgrade have announced postseason U.S. tours for this spring.

MLS All-Stars are 5-0-1 in previous All-Star games against international opponents.

"We believe Manchester United's North American tour will be a tremendous celebration of the sport following the 2010 World Cup," MLS commissioner Don Garber said.

Like the Yankees, Lakers, Cowboys and Notre Dame football (to name just the biggest fraud fanbases), Manchester United attracts the phoniest of phony fans. There's nothing wrong with wanting to see these teams, especially when they come to our backyard, it's just hilarious to picture all the bandwagon fans coming out of the woodwork.