Traffic is mentioned to be stuck on the M6 and M40 when going to Old Trafford, but no mention is made of the much more congested M60 near the stadium itself - and an international friendly would never be played so close to the busy Christmas period, where it's not unknown for even Premier League teams to play four games in ten days (especially against a team who they had just played in a competitive game - England had played Turkey in a Euro 2004 qualifier in October 2003). Also at that time international fixtures weren't played on Friday nights nor indeed any top flight club games.