 Several players, including Scholes, David Beckham and Gary Neville, were suffering from a flu virus in the lead-up to the game, and were still suffering the effects on matchday, but were all deemed fit enough to play.Henning Berg was injured, so Ronny Johnsen and David May started in defence.For Newcastle United, the FA Cup final was their last game of the season, meaning that they were uninhibited in their squad selection for the match; however, manager Ruud Gullit's final team was unpredictable and the players were unsure as to who would be picked until the day of the game.