The match, which was officially presented on Thursday in the Malaysian capital, will be played in the Bukit Jalil national stadium, which can hold 100,000 spectators
The managing director of FC Barcelona, Antoni Rossich, announced the agreement at a ceremony which was attended by Prince Abdullah
FC Barcelona is to take part in a friendly match in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) on 10th August. The match will close the tour of Asia that Tito Vilanova’s team will make this summer. The managing director of FC Barcelona, Antoni Rossich, announced the agreement at a ceremony held this Thursday in the Malaysian capital, which was attended by Prince Abdullah Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah.
The match has attracted a lot of attention in Malaysia as could be seen by the extent of the coverage given by local media. This will be the first time FC Barcelona has played in Malaysia, where football is the most popular sport. Barça has tremendous following among local fans as demonstrated by the fact that Malaysia ranks number 15 in the number of Facebook fans with 779.910 fans.
The presence of FC Barcelona in the country will also help to promote the ‘Visit Malaysia Year 2014’ campaign, organised by the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism.
Barça will take on a team made up of the best players of the Malaysian league in the Bukit Jalil national stadium which regularly hosts matches of the national team. Building work on the stadium, which can hold over 100,000 spectators, began on 1st January 1997 and was finished in time to host the Commonwealth Games the following year.
It was subsequently refurbished to hold the AFC Asian Cup finals in 2007.
Barça’s opponent in the friendly will be coached by national team manager Dato K Rajagopal, and will include the biggest stars of the Malaysian game such as Mahalla Jasuli, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, Mohamad AIDL Zafuan Abd Razak and Safiq bin Rahim.
The match in Kuala Lumpur will be the last friendly of 2013 in Asia. Afterwards, Tito Vilanova’s team will return to Barcelona to prepare the first competitive games of the 2013/14 season.