Nani offered the 1st evidence of the skill which persuaded Man Utd to pay £17 million for his services as Alex Ferguson's men finished their Far East tour with an easy win.
The 19 year old's magnificent chip capped another memorable evening on a mostly successful trip and suggested comparisons between Nani and compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo could not be too far wide of the mark.
Wayne Rooney and Lee Martin were also on target for the Red Devils, although, as they head home from China tonight, Ferguson does have several problems to ponder.
With Ryan Giggs and Edwin van der Sar joining Owen Hargreaves on the sidelines with various knocks, United have not really emerged from their 2 week trip unscathed.
Paul Scholes flew home Monday to start a 3 week lay off after suffering a knee injury in Seoul, so, as Gary Neville, Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer missed the tour entirely to work on their fitness and Park Ji-Sung and Ben Foster are both out until the new year following surgery, United are hurtling towards the opening weekend in a fortnight with a worryingly long list of injuries.
Gabriel Heinze and Anderson are due to increase Alex Ferguson's ranks next week as they expect to report for training following their respective Copa America campaigns.
Whether Heinze returns is open to serious doubt given it has now emerged the Argentina defender has sought legal advice over United's refusal to sell him to Liverpool.
The wrangle went some way to explaining why Ferguson played Danny Simpson, normally a right back, on the left as United need to find some cover for Patrice Evra should Heinze depart, which now appears inevitable, whether he will move to Anfield or not.
Another player reportedly headed for the exit door is Alan Smith, who himself crossed a good divide when he left Leeds for United in 2004.
Whilst a number of clubs have enquired about the England international, there has so far, as stated by chief exec David Gill, been no formal bid.
Given he spent the opening 62 minutes at the Guangzhou Olympic Stadium sitting nearer to the end of a very long bench, almost as far away from Ferguson as it was probable to be, whilst Dong Fangzhuo, Martin and Darron Gibson were given a chance to shine, Smith's days at Old Trafford appear to be numbered.
Nani is only only starting his United career following his £17 million move from Sporting Lisbon.
Already the speedy winger has made a positive impression and his goal, United's 2nd in a comfortable triumph over the Chinese Second Division outfit, brought a touch of class to proceedings.
Rooney started the move with a super-charged burst to the edge of Guangzhou's box. Having run into trouble, Rooney then played a pass to Michael Carrick, who promptly fed Nani on his left.
First the teenager terrorised his marker before sending a sublime chip over the goalkeeper's head which bounced in off the far post.
Clearly, the warning from Ferguson over his trademark back-flip celebrations was heeded as Nani opted merely to race away in delight tracked by a gaggle of team-mates.
By that stage, United were already in front thanks to Rooney's clinically executed penalty.
A 3rd arrived in splendid fashion 7 minutes after the restart when Martin belted home a long-range effort.
However, the loudest cheer of the night was reserved for the introduction of Ronaldo 14 minutes before the end.
It had originally been suggested the winger would miss out altogether after suffering picking up a minor knock in training. But, to the unbridled glee of the fans who was given only 2 weeks' notice of the game, Ronaldo made an entrance anyway to try several tricks.
18 07 2007
Uzbekistan beat China 3-0 Wednesday to hand the regional giants their 1st AFC Asian Cup group-stage exit in 27 years.
Captain Maksim Shatskikh blasted in a rebound from his own header on 72 minutes before Timur Kapadze capitalised on an error from stand in 'keeper Yang June
Substitute forward Alexander Geynrikh finished from another rebound in injury time to keep China out of the knock out stages for the 1st time since 1980.
The result means Uzbekistan finish 2nd in Group C behind Iran and will face Saudi Arabia in the quarter-finals.
But it is probably going to mean the sack for embattled coach Zhu Guanghu, who has failed to reproduce the form that had taken China to the 2004 final.
China, giving a 1st start to Man Utd forward Dong Fangzhuo, edged a tepid 1st half played in damp conditions at the cavernous, and nearly empty, Shah Alam Stadium.
Bundesliga midfielder Shao Jiayi put a reaction shot wide on 3 minutes and then warmed goalie Ignatiy Nesterov's hands with a 35-yard free kick on 20 minutes.
But with China's attack failing to fire, Zhu withdrew left winger Mao Jianqing for the dangerous Wang Dong on 40 minutes.
Uzbek refused to throw players forward in a cautious start however Server Djeparov almost had a shot deflected in on 15 minutes and curled another effort at Yang Jun, deputising for the injured Li Leilei, only before half time.
Dynamo Kiev forward Shatskikh had a shot blocked on 34 minutes and another saved as Uzbekistan were mainly restricted to half-chances and shots from distance.
But Uzbekistan brought on Geynrikh at half time followed by Victor Karpenko and the double switch made the difference as Shatskikh shaved the upright with a sizzling shot on 64 minutes.
Djeparov saw a shot saved before Karpenko hoisted a 40-yard free kick on to Shatskikh's head, forcing a diving save from Yang before the forward finished with aplomb.
Wang was desperately unlucky to rattle the bar when he met Zhang Shuai's cut back 1st time and Shao Jiayi twice troubled Nesterov in China's best moments.
China's woes were compounded by a worrying injury to forward Han Peng, who was stretchered off in the dying moments.
As Han left the field, Geynrikh collected the rebound from his own free kick and lashed the ball past Yang to complete China's humiliation.
China were runners up in 2004 when they lost a controversial final to Japan. However, they have slipped to 76 in the rankings and Zhu entered the tournament under orders to reached the semi-finals "or else".
Uzbekistan were quarter-finalists at the last tournament, when they were removed on penalties by Bahrain. The former Soviet republic's finest moment was winning the Asian Games title on debut in 1994.
15 06 2007
China coach Zhu Guanghu has left top domestic scorer Li Jinyu out of his 23 man team for next month's Asian Cup, local media reported Friday.
Former English Premier League players Zheng Zhi, Li Tie and Sun Jihai were included in an experienced team for the finals, which take place in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia from 7-29 July.
"Li Jinyu is a talented striker," Zhu informed local media. "But he is not in top form and is unlikely to pose any sort of threat to our rivals in the Asian Cup."
Li Jinyu, who scored 26 goals for Chinese Super League champions Shandong Luneng last season and has added another 5 this term, mentioned he understood the decision and would work harder to prove he was worth a recall.
"I still think I am the best forward in China," the 29 year old mentioned on his blog.
China were runners up to Japan at the last Asian Cup in 2004 however their recent form was poor with defeats by Australia, Thailand and the US prompting calls for Zhu's dismissal.
"The target of reaching the last 4 has not changed," mentioned Zhu, who also put 7 players on standby.
Man Utd forward Dong Fangzhuo is one of 5 forwards in the squad, whilst former Everton and Sheffield United midfielder Li Tie's call up is something of a surprise given his recent form.
"He has a spiritual presence in the team even if he is on the bench," Zhu mentioned of the 29 year old.
China play their opening match of the finals against co-hosts Malaysia on 10 July and also face Iran and Uzbekistan in Group C.
Squad:
Goalkeepers, Li Leilei, Yang Jun
Defenders, Du Wei, Sun Xiang, Zhang Yaokun, Li Weifeng, Sun Jihai, Zhang Shuai, Ji Mingyi, Cao Yang
Midfielders, Shao Jiayi, Li Tie, Zheng Zhi, Zhao Xuri, Wang Dong, Zhou Haibin, Zheng Bin, Mao Jianqing
Forwards, Han Peng, Dong Fangzhuo, Zhu Ting, Qu Bo, Wang Peng
On standby, Xin Feng, Li Yan, Xu Yunlong, Du Zhenyu, Tao Wei, Chen Dong, Zong Lei
