SINGAPORE – England hero Harry Kane as well as fan favourites Son Heung-min and Mohamed Salah are set to be among the superstars in town in July, with fans in for a football treat at Kallang as five major European clubs – Liverpool, Tottenham, Leicester City, Bayern Munich and Roma – are set to travel here for the inaugural Singapore Festival of Football.
The week-long fiesta, which will be hosted at the National Stadium (Singapore Sports Hub), will kick off with a Tiger Cup “Jose Mourinho derby” between Tottenham and Roma on July 26. Mourinho, who used to manage Tottenham, is Roma’s current boss.
Liverpool will then take centre stage against Leicester in the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy on July 30 before rounding off the action with a blockbuster Singapore Trophy clash against German powerhouses Bayern on Aug 2 – 10 days before their English Premier League season commences.
It will be Liverpool’s second straight year in Singapore after they defeated Crystal Palace 2-0 in front of about 50,000 fans in July 2022.
Bayern last played here at the International Champions Cup (ICC) in 2017, while Spurs’ last match in Singapore was in 2019.
This is Roma and Leicester’s first outing in Singapore.
Spurs legend Gary Mabbutt, 61, who played for the club from 1982 to 1998, said: “This is our second visit in the last four years. It shows how much we appreciate coming here and certainly our engagement with the supporters.
“The pre-season tours are very different. The players are totally focused on getting ready for the start of the season. So it will be a very, very important trip for us as the games are vital for us.
“The last time we were here, we played Juventus at the National Stadium where Harry Kane scored a goal from the halfway line, which was an injury-time winner.
So, hopefully, we’ll get some exciting games like that and some great goals from Harry Kane.”
Fans can also look forward to open training sessions by Tottenham and Liverpool on July 25 and July 29 respectively at the 55,000-seater National Stadium.
Bayern are also expected to host an open training session on Aug 1, with details to be released soon.
The event, which is supported by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), is touted as the first large-scale football event featuring top European sides here since the ICC in 2019.
STB chief executive Keith Tan said: “We are excited to build on the success of last year’s match to offer a star-studded week of football that will attract passionate fans from around the region.
“The Singapore Festival of Football Driven by CDG Zig will be a major highlight in our vibrant calendar of events this year, and we look forward to fans and visitors enjoying the action on the field as well as outside the field, experiencing what our city has to offer.”
Besides world-class football action, fans can visit the interactive festival village, which is open to the public on training and match days.
