Arsenal, Newcastle and AC Milan to play in Singapore Festival of Football in July

SINGAPORE – A stunning upset over Real Madrid earlier this week has fuelled talk that history is beckoning for Arsenal. Their former defender Bacary Sagna certainly hopes so.

The Gunners’ 3-0 victory over the defending champions in the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final on April 8 has given the Frenchman belief that the club can go all the way to the final, emulating their previous run in 2006.

Speaking on the sidelines of a press conference at Pan Pacific Hotel on April 11 to announce the return of the Singapore Festival of Football, the 42-year-old said: “I know we have a lot of quality, and when you see the young players performing, they play as if they’ve been on the scene for a very long time and this is a good sign for me.”

“I have good hope that the team can do well and maybe go to the final and perform,” added Sagna, who was with Arsenal from 2007 to 2014.

While it remains to be seen whether the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Declan Rice will be strutting their stuff during the May 31 final in Munich, what is certain is that fans in Singapore will be in for a treat in July.

That month, Arsenal, Newcastle United and Italian side AC Milan will play pre-season friendlies at the National Stadium.

At the press conference, promoters TEG Sport and the Singapore Tourism Board announced a five-year partnership that will see top European clubs play in Singapore in 2025, 2027 and 2029.

In this year’s edition, the Gunners will first play the Rossoneri on July 23, before having an open training session at the National Stadium two days later.

They will then face League Cup champions Newcastle on July 27.

“We have a big fan base in Asia, and especially in Singapore,” added Sagna, who won the FA Cup and League Cup with the club under Arsene Wenger.

“We are always looking forward to coming and playing around here. When I was playing for Arsenal, I was very excited to come to Asia because I love the culture, I love the people and the enthusiasm of the people here is magnificent.”

The Singapore Festival of Football was last held in July 2023, when Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and German giants Bayern Munich played a series of friendlies at the National Stadium.

Bayern

beat Liverpool 4-3 in front of a 49,983 crowd then,

while 25,095 spectators witnessed Spurs’ 5-1 win over Singapore Premier League outfit Lion City Sailors.

This will be Milan’s first visit to Singapore, while Arsenal last came in 2018 for the International Champions Cup, where they faced Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid.

The Magpies last played in Singapore in 1996, when they faced an S-League All-Stars team.

This time around, they will be heading here on the back of a memorable season in which they ended a 70-year domestic trophy drought by beating Liverpool to lift the League Cup in March.

Their former goalkeeper Shay Given hopes that trophy will be “the first of many” for Eddie Howe’s men.

“I was there for 12 years (from 1997 to 2009) and didn’t get my hands on a trophy. I was at Wembley for the (League Cup) final. When the final whistle happened, I went crazy with all the fans,” said the 48-year-old Irishman on the sidelines of the press conference.

“I know Eddie and I know he’s a really competitive person, and the win will be parked to one side. It’s about the next trophy now.”

Given also hopes that the cup win will spur more people to support Newcastle, adding: “There were 300,000 people at the trophy parade in the city and I think we’ve got to use that momentum from the fans as well.”

“Winning the first trophy was a big thing and I think they’re (the owners) really invested in making the club the best it can be,” he added.

“There’s a lot of excitement around Newcastle and the team has united the whole city and it’s nice to bring that excitement to Singapore in July as well.”

Also hoping for a return to glory days are Milan, who sit ninth in Serie A.

While the Christian Pulisic-inspired Rossoneri won the Italian Super Cup in January, it has been 18 years since they were last kings of Europe.

Former winger Serginho, who was with Milan from 1999 to 2008, said: “For a big club like Milan, it’s obviously very difficult and painful to have a period like this... having always been a part of the landscape of the semi-finals and finals in the Champions League, and this time not even passing the group stages.”

But the Brazilian, 53, hopes that Milan will “bring a little bit of the spirit, the passion and also the happiness that football brings” when they visit Singapore.