Manchester United soccer stars have hit New York’s party scene with style — clubbing until 4 a.m. yesterday, dancing with belly dancers and downing Champagne “in a celebratory mood.”
Top players from the British squad, including Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand, hit a series of hot spots Sunday night — including Lavo, where partner Rocco Ancarola put on a sexy Moulin Rouge-themed burlesque show.
A witness told us: “The team and their staff took over half the restaurant. Once the music started after dinner, they were dancing on the tables and the banquettes to the deejay. Some were wearing flapper headbands taken from the girls, masks and gangster hats. They were handed tambourines and maracas. One player even donned a fake moustache.
“Then the belly dancers came out and they were mesmerized. Ryan Giggs got up and was dancing with a belly dancer on a table, the guys were laughing. They all left at around 1 a.m. They invited a few girls onto the team bus with them, and two went.”
The team, some of whom had also hit rooftop bar 230 Fifth during the evening, later rolled up to Chelsea’s Juliet Supperclub. A spy told us, “They were in a celebratory mood. They ordered Champagne, vodka, scotch and mingled with a group of models. They stayed until 4 a.m., when they all got back onto the team bus without the girls.”
The players, on a US tour, wanted to celebrate after Saturday’s win over Chicago ahead of their game tomorrow against the MLS All-Star team, which includes iconic former Manchester United star David Beckham in Harrison, NJ.
A Manchester United rep said: “It was a day off, and some of them had planned to meet up at Lavo. The full squad wasn’t there and the group included team staff. Everybody was dancing on tables at Lavo, not just Giggs. That was the theme, the whole restaurant was dancing. None of the players invited girls onto the bus. Two girls got on the bus at Lavo, they were friends of the backroom staff, and one was with her husband. At the end of the night, the team got on the bus and went back to their hotel with no girls.”