International Champions Cup

The club’s new manager, Maurizio Sarri, will be keen to start his spell at Juventus with the right tone by getting acquainted with his players during pre-season – both off and on the pitch.  Juventus’ first visit to Singapore since 2014 will present an excellent warm-up for Sarri before he heads home to Italy for his real baptism of fire with the Old Lady.  2018/2019 Season Summary Death, taxes, and Juventus clinching the Serie A. The only constant may be change, but Juventus looks primed to challenge this adage.  They extended their Scudetto winning streak to an unprecedented eight years…

Tottenham Hotspur will face the reigning champions from Italy, Juventus FC, for their ICC friendly match in Singapore.  Loyal Spurs supporters will know that it has been decades since they last stepped foot here in Singapore. Their last visit was in 1995 when they played a friendly game against our national team.  Think about it: the last time Spurs visited Singapore in 1995, Blackburn Rovers were the champions in the Premier League, Michael Jordan came out of retirement from the National Basketball Association (NBA), the first Toy Story movie was released, Goh Chok Tong was Prime Minister of Singapore, and…

Having secured Champions League football next season together with Antonio Conte’s appointment, Inter Milan’s upcoming season will have plenty for fans to look forward to. Their first return to Singapore since 2017 for the International Champions Cup will offer a glimpse to what to expect for the incoming season. 2018/2019 Season Summary Inter Milan experienced a slow start to the 2018/2019 season but picked up the pace midway through to clinch the final Champions League spot – something most of the Nerrazzuri fans would have gladly taken at the start of the season. Their qualification last season made it two…

With four teams from Italy and England flying over to our sunny island to warm themselves up for the rigours of the upcoming season, we have decided to recap their performances last season as a build up for their upcoming International Champions Cup 2019 (ICC) friendly matches here. Seeing that this is the first time this team will be visiting Singapore since 2001, we shall start with Manchester United.   2018/2019 Season Summary Do you remember a time when you have to queue for a long time to ride the roller-coaster at a theme park?  But do you also remember the times…

If this was meant to be a pre-season friendly, then it turned out to be everything but one. We often hear, read, and witness first-hand about how drab these matches can get, and about how fans are not getting their money’s worth because of the absence of star players. But for the 22,007 fans present at the National Stadium last night for the International Champions Cup (ICC) match between Paris Saint Germain and Atletico Madrid, they will certainly talk about this contest for the next few days and weeks, if not months and years to come. If they arrived disappointed…

What a difference a week makes. Just seven days ago, Mesut Özil was at the centre of a heated debate following his decision to retire from the German national football team. There were critics, supporters, and those who were simply too stunned to formulate an opinion. But at the National Stadium in Singapore last night, all the 29-year-old received was pure love and affection. Özil, who captained Arsenal, won the hearts of the 50,308-strong crowd (a majority of whom were Arsenal fans) as he put in an inspired display to help the Gunners defeat Paris Saint Germain 5-1 in their…

The talk of the town was present at the National Stadium last night, but he played no part in Arsenal’s International Champions Cup (ICC) opener against Atletico Madrid. All the 23,095-strong crowd got was a mere glimpse of Mesut Özil for just seven seconds – when the two big screens in the stadium zoomed in on him seated on the bench in the 71st minute. The 29-year-old, who created a stir after announcing his retirement from the German national football team last Sunday, smiled and gave a thumbs-up, resulting in the loudest cheer of the night from the crowd, most…

Mesut Özil is fully focused on the upcoming Premier League season with Arsenal, despite being caught in the centre of a raging debate following his retirement from international football on Sunday night. That was the view of former Gunners midfielder Ray Parlour, who is currently in Singapore in his role as a club ambassador for the International Champions Cup (ICC). Özil cited “racism and disrespect” shown towards him by the German Football Association (DFB) as the main reason behind his retirement in a lengthy, no-holds-barred statement released on his various social media pages. This led to widespread concerns that the…