Barça to play Thai national team in Bangkok on August 7

Rajamangala national stadium.
This will be the second time that Barça have played in the country, where they first appeared in a friendly in 2002

Barça’s second opponent on their Asian Tour will be the Thailand national team, as announced today Friday at an official presentation in Bangkok. FCB’s director general, Antoni Rossich, was in the Thai capital to help reveal the details of a game that will be played on August 7 in the national stadium. After that, the first team will be continuing their preseason preparations in a friendly in Kuala Lumpur.

This will be the second appearance by the Barça first team in Thailand. They first played in the country on May 29, 2002, also in Bangkok, in a friendly with the Bac Tero All Stars that ended 0-0 after regulation time, the last game before the 2002 summer break. Managed at the time by Carles Rexach, the Barça side that day included such players as Reina, Abelardo, Frank de Boer, Cocu and Saviola and ended up winning 4-2 on penalties.

The venue that time, the Rajamangala national stadium, will again be the location for Barça’s visit in 2013. It holds 49,722 spectators and is used both by the Thailand national team and by local club Big Bang Chula United. The biggest football stadium in Thailand, it was opened in 1998 for the Asian Games.

The local organisers will be releasing the first tickets for sale on May 11 via ThaiTicket Master.