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Manchester United team that suffered shock defeat to Coventry in 2007 had future World Cup winner, Golden Boy and duo still at the club

Manchester United will face Coventry for the first time in 17 years on Sunday in the FA Cup semi-final.

That League Cup match in 2007 is probably one United fans would rather forget.

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Pique was one of Man United’s starters in this matchCredit: Getty

Indeed, the Championship side, managed at the time by Iain Dowie, secured an improbable 2-0 victory at Old Trafford.

What is remarkable is that Sir Alex Ferguson’s team included a future World Cup winner in Gerard Pique and Golden Boy winner Anderson.

Although the match took place 17 years ago, two players from that team are still at the club.

Jonny Evans started the game and Tom Heaton was on the bench, both are now at the club but have spent a lot of time away from Old Trafford.

Thomas Kuszcak started in goal with a defense consisting of Danny Simpson, Phil Bardsley, Evans, John O’Shea and Gerard Pique.

The midfield consisted of Anderson, Chris Eagles, Lee Martin and Nani, with Chinese striker Dong Fangzhou starting up front.

Superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs and Patrice Evra had the day off and Fergie must have regretted it.

Michael Misfud scored both goals for Coventry in the shock result, with 11,000 fans traveling to Old Trafford for the memorable victory.

Evans started this match and is still at the club

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Evans started this match and is still at the clubCredit: Getty

Pique, who only played 23 times for Man United, told talkSPORT: “It was a very difficult evening, I hope it doesn’t happen again.

“It can happen in FA Cup or League Cup games… you can’t make a mistake and hopefully this time United can win.”

At the time, Ferguson said: “This performance was a shock to us all. These are players whose talents we have been praising for a while, but I was flabbergasted by the performance.”

Fangzhuo led the line with many top players rested

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Fangzhuo led the line with many top players restedCredit: AFP

Coventry boss Dowie said: “To come here and score twice to zero does a lot of credit to my players. They showed great desire at each position. The goalkeeper made a great save but we limited him to just a few chances.

“It was a team Fergie thought was good enough to beat us and talking about those not playing would be a disservice to my players.”

Coventry will be hoping to emulate a similar result on Sunday as Mark Robins’ side look to knock another Premier League side out of the FA Cup to book their place in the final.

They knocked out Wolves in the last round and next in line will be Manchester United, with commentary from that match live on talkSPORT.

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