Football
Abilash Nalapat 9y

Brazil continue globetrotting affair in Singapore with Japan friendly

With Singapore playing host to two powerhouses of the international game on Oct. 14 as Brazil take on Japan, organisers World Sport Group (WSG) are confident of putting on a fine show for the fans at the newly opened National Stadium.

The Brazilian national team -- popularly known as the Selecao -- have played at other neutral venues in the Middle East, the United States and the iconic Wembley Stadium in London in the past decade. However, Singapore will be hosting Brazil for the first time with the five-time World Cup winners starting off their tour of the Asia Pacific region three days earlier when they meet South American neighbours and archrivals Argentina in Beijing.

Brazil are one of the most recognisable teams on the planet with a rich history of formers stars such as Pele, Garrincha, Romario, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. The current crop is led by Barcelona star Neymar, Chelsea midfielders Oscar and Willian plus PSG's flamboyant defender David Luiz. 

New head coach Dunga -- a World Cup winner as Brazil captain in 1994 and a quarterfinalist as manager in 2010 -- replaced Luis Felipe Scolari after the World Cup in July and has opted to recall former Manchester City and Real Madrid winger Robinho, now plying his trade at Santos. 

Japan also have a new man in charge with Javier Aguirre -- who guided Mexico to the round of 16 at the 2002 and 2010 World Cups -- replacing Alberto Zaccheroni, with hopes of defending the Samurai Blue's Asian Cup title in January 2015.

According to the organisers, 40,000 tickets have already been snapped up and WSG are confident that it will be a sell-out at the 51,000 capacity stadium. The early kick-off time of 18.45 HKT will also help raise interest. 

"Though this is a home match for Japan, interest in the fixture has not been from Japanese fans alone," Malcolm Thorpe, Vice-President of Sports Development and Events at WSG, told ESPN FC. "Based on interactions with fans who have purchased tickets, as well as with fans on our Facebook page, we are definitely seeing strong interest from the region.

"Brazil and Japan have a huge following in Singapore and the rest of the South East Asia region and we expect a strong turnout by the Singapore football fans who are excited to see a match of this quality taking place in the country." 

Ticket prices range from $40-$180 (Singapore dollars), which is in line with the friendly match on Aug 16 at the same venue between Italian champions Juventus and a Singapore Selection side that drew a crowd of 27,388, Thorpe told The New Paper earlier this month. "We are pleased that we've been able to keep ticket prices the same for this match, which is between two top-class international teams who both played in the recent World Cup."

Singaporeans who miss out on purchasing tickets could look forward to watching the game on television. "WSG are currently engaged in discussions regarding the Singapore broadcast rights with all local broadcasters and we expect to announce a deal shortly," said Thorpe.

"The Japan Football Association are handling the sale of the television rights in their territory while sports marketing agency, Pitch International, are distributing global broadcast rights, including the Brazil territory."

Singapore-registered corporate entities, however, will not be as lucky as the country's spectators and television audiences. They will miss out on sponsorship opportunities and thereby a chance to become a stakeholder in the match.

"The sponsorship inventory will not be open in Singapore as it is limited to the Japan national team sponsors and to the sponsors of the Gillette Brasil Global Tour, of which this fixture is a part," Thorpe said.

However, the Singapore government will be a stakeholder in the high-profile fixture. Sport Singapore -- a statutory board of the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth -- are part of the Sports Hub Project, a 25-year-long Public-Private Partnership (PPP) launched in June 2014.

"Sports Hub are the event owners and therefore will receive a hire fee from WSG, the event promoters," Thorpe added. "WSG are also paying significant appearance fees for both the teams and investing substantially in marketing the match."   

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