Isabela hung a press badge from her neck but she was cheerfully vague about which media outlet she worked for. The important thing was she had gained entry to the hallowed space of the lobby at the Shilla Hotel, Seoul. She was not the only one. A hundred or so red-clad Koreans, nearly all female, most of them teens like Isabela, loitered in the hope of glimpsing Manchester United players. If not, any United employee (even Albert the kit man caused excitement) would do. One middle aged otherwise sensible-looking woman had brought along a homemade wooden football pitch, the size of a kitchen table, upon which pictures of United players - in formation of course - were lovingly arranged. Isabela had only her camera phone, but was keen to show off her prize.

With her press badge she had managed to get close enough to video the players disembarking from the team bus upon arrival at the Shilla. She replayed it and reeled off the names. “Carrick. O-Shea. Vi-dic . . .” A spike-haired, gawky figure appeared. You thought: she’s stuffed now.

“Ea-gles!” said Isabela, not missing a beat. After that nothing could surprise, even United’s normally low-profile chief executive, David Gill, looking sheepish as he crossed the lobby accompanied by three bouncers to keep the autograph hunters at bay.

There was one person the throng really hankered for, however, especially Isabela. She fast-forwarded her video and there he was, backward baseball cap, diamonds winking on both ears. “Ro-nal-do!” she squeaked, fanning herself theatrically with a magazine. It seemed possible the very word might make her pass out. In Tokyo it had been similar, if less intense. The birth of a phenomenon may be being witnessed. In the East, there is a rising Ron.

Six summers ago a United tour of the Far East launched David Beckham’s star into a universe far beyond that previously inhabited by famous footballers. Then, riot police were needed to control hysterical mobs when United touched down at airports and a statue of Beckham was placed in a Buddhist shrine near Bangkok. Ronaldo is nowhere near there yet, but there have been signs on tour that a new icon is in the making. Beckham need not yet worry, but a near-namesake should be afraid. Ronaldo is a marketing-man’s dream: Ronaldinho with good looks.

With the similar, cartoon-like quality of their ball skills, the Portuguese appears to capture the same imaginations as the Brazilian; in this part of the world young Asians emerging from previously regimented societies, chasing fun, keen on seeing individualism asserted. Japan, with its distinctive J-League, is a more mature football market than neighbouring countries and the 56,000 fans packing the Saitama stadium on Monday were there largely to support their own team, Urawa Red Diamonds, rather than worship a visiting foreign entity. Some even gave United stick, but when Ronaldo took possession there was suddenly a galaxy of twinkling camera lights in the stands and screeched exhortations for stepovers.

Korean football is also established but its fans embrace foreign teams. Ji-Sung Park may have exaggerated when he said “for Korean people, United are the best club in the world, everyone supports them,” but not by much. The estimate is that 75% do.

In a hysterical World Cup stadium in Seoul, Ronaldo went down like Elvis in boots. Scoring one goal, making two, he did enough to win man-of-the-match by half-time and spent the second 45 minutes on the bench. Every time the big screen showed the United dugout there was a cacophony when Park was seen and an even greater one when a certain baseball cap and diamond earrings came into to view. Ronaldo loved it, and favoured the cameras with smiles and thumbs-ups.

With the weight of Nike campaign already behind him, he is well placed to make himself into a brand. For United, his rise is a fillip as the Glazer family seeks to expand business. Sir Alex Ferguson noted this is his fifth Far East tour and experience helps United understand better than any other club how to do these things. The games are showcases but offstage there have been a range of activities designed to show United’s commitment to this part of the world is sincere: visits to orphanages, signing sessions for children, coaching clinics and the launch of Japanese, Korean and Chinese language versions of United’s website. Ferguson has become an old hand at flattering locals without having to be false. In Seoul, he praised South Korea for its exploits in the 2002 World Cup, in Tokyo he lauded the Japanese for leading the development of the Asian game.

Chelsea have the eyes of the world upon them in Hollywood, but Gill is happy to let Peter Kenyon, his old boss, chase the US dollar. Nobody has yet found a way to turn significant profits from soccer Stateside. With around 40m fans in Asia, 750,000 Koreans signing up for a club credit card within 16 months of being launched, and a casino in Macau paying about £1m for Ronaldo & Co to appear in the territory’s 16,000-seat stadium, United know where the accessible currency is.

Seoul sold out in six hours and tickets hit the black market at $400 apiece. Ronaldo told a breathless local media: “The atmosphere was brilliant. I hope to play here again next year.” Either nobody had told him United are scheduled to tour South Africa in 2008, or he really is the new Beckham and can presume to dictate his club’s commercial policy. Ferguson said: “We’ve been absolutely delighted by the affection shown us. With the thousands of people outside our hotel through the night it’s reminded me of Thailand. I hope we come back.”

After the success of Guus Hiddink with their national team, the grey-haired boss figure is something Koreans can cherish and Ferguson was also treated like a movie star, mobbed at the Shilla and attracting screams when his face filled the stadium screen. On the United bus one fan scrawled: “Ferguson! Hand made chocolate.” Quite what that meant was unclear, but the proposals of marriage for Alan Smith (popular for his blond hair) and Wayne Rooney were directly expressed. Hardly any player was left out: the graffiti even included love hearts written beside the names of Jonny Evans, yet to make his first-team debut, and Giuseppe Rossi, not even on tour. And, of course, there were reams of messages for a certain Portuguese including, and seeming slightly tragic as she stood there and the bus drew off for the last time. “ Ronaldo Eu Ti Amo, Isabela.”