Najib Watches Champions League Final With Football Fans

Najib speaking at a gathering of one million youths that was held yesterday in Putrajaya.

PUTRAJAYA, May 29 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, joined more than 10,000 football fans at the Putrajaya Square here in the wee hours of today to watch the live telecast of the UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United.

Najib, a fan of the English club Manchester United, arrived at the square flanked by the Putrajaya Corporation complex and the Palace of Justice about 30 minutes after the game started at almost 3am wearing a Man U jersey bearing his name and the numeral 1, to the cheers of the crowd watching the match on a giant screen.

Three minutes after the prime minister's arrival, Man U equalised 1-1 through striker Wayne Rooney. Pedro Rodriguez had sent the dominating Spanish side Barcelona 1-0 up in the 27th minute.

The dazzling Lionel Messi and David Villa scored in the 54th and 69th minutes, respectively, for the final score of 3-1 to enable Barcelona to lift the cup.

Also watching the game with Najib and Rosmah were Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, Deputy Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Razali Ibrahim and Deputy Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Datuk M. Saravanan.

The screening of the match was one of the programmes of the Gathering of One Million Youths 2011 in Putrajaya from May 27 to 29.

This is the second time that Najib has watched a football game with the public.

In December last year, the prime minister joined fans of the game to watch the live telecast of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 semi-final match between Malaysia and Vietnam on a giant screen in Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

-- BERNAMA

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