ENGLISH giants Arsenal are firming as favourites to follow Manchester United and Juventus to Sydney, with David Gallop confirming Football Federation Australia is well into negotiations with several big-name clubs.
Juventus drew 55,000 fans to ANZ Stadium for their clash against the A-League All Stars on Sunday night, significantly less than the 80,000-strong capacity crowd Manchester United attracted to the same venue last year.
But Gallop was pleased with the turnout for the Italian champions, which resulted in a seven-figure profit to be shared equally among all 10 A-League clubs. While the FFA boss wouldn’t name the clubs earmarked to take on the All Stars in next year’s third edition, it is expected to be an English Premier League side, with Manchester City also in the frame.
“I can guarantee it will be someone big,” Gallop said.
“We are already in negotiations with a number of potential opponents for next year that are inside the top five or 10 clubs in the world and I think Sunday night would have dispelled any of the naysayers about the strategic importance of this game and this event.
“It was a hard game to program around Juventus’ commitments around the rest of Asia and Sunday night is not an easy night, so we were happy with 55,000.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is known to be particular about where the club prepare during the preseason, with his team rarely venturing outside of Europe, though last month they played in New York against Tim Cahill’s Red Bulls.
But after receiving positive feedback from Juventus, Gallop is confident the facilities in Sydney — as well as the quality of opposition — would satisfy any major club.
“The Juventus guys were full of praise for the training facility they used at Kogarah and the hotel,” he said.
“Any time you bring visitors to Sydney and they stay on the harbour they are generally going to want to come back. But of course the football was important and there is no doubt they got a highly competitive preseason match under their belt, and for their new coach, so it really did satisfy all the things we wanted it to satisfy.”
The All Stars, coached by Josep Gombau, came within inches of beating Juventus, but lost the entertaining game 3-2. It was an impressive performance for a team assembled just 10 days before and Gallop says it shone a positive spotlight on the A-League.
“Juventus were a bit surprised by how well we played and I think they enjoyed the atmosphere of 55,000 fans,” he said. “I’m sure they came away feeling a bit rattled and a bit lucky that they got that third goal.
“We had players from all 10 clubs, a coach who wasn’t afraid to play an attacking style and the project is one that we think was successful in year one, but on Sunday night really cemented it as a good move for Australian football.”
source: dailyelegraph.com.au
STUDIO 3 NEWCASTLE AUSTRALIA 