Man City to play friendly with Vietnam in July: organizer

Premier League side Manchester City are likely to play a friendly with the Vietnamese national squad in Hanoi next month, the chairman of the bank that has invited the English football (soccer) club said Sunday.

Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

SHB has been teaming up with Premier League runners-up Manchester City to issue the SHB-Manchester City Visa co-branded debit card for more than a year, according to the chairman.

Hien thus banked on such a relationship to suggest that Manchester City add an exhibition game in Vietnam to their Australian tour planned for July, which the club agreed to, he said.

Manchester City are expected to send their proposal to SHB and the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), the country’s football governing body, today, June 22, for the Vietnamese side to consider before signing the final agreement.

“SHB has worked with VFF and the federation has approved our proposed time and place for the game,” he told Tuoi Tre.

“VFF general secretary Le Hoai Anh has been tasked with representing us in professional talks with our partners.”

The total cost to invite Manchester City for the game will not be disclosed, as per a request by the English club, Hien said.

The Vietnamese side, however, will have to spend “not a small amount of money” on the event, so SHB and VFF will “call for sponsorship from businesses to share the financial burden,” he added.

Hien has returned from a business trip to England, during which he managed to persuade Manchester City to support Hanoi T&T and SHB Da Nang, two clubs sponsored by Hien that are competing in the V-League, Vietnam’s top-fight football league.

The English club will provide training for young players, coaches, and managers and marketing executives so that the two Vietnamese clubs will be able to follow the professional development model of Manchester City, Hien elaborated.

“Some representatives of the [English] club are expected to visit Hanoi and Da Nang on Monday and Tuesday to examine our football models to determine the specific cooperation plans,” Hien said.

SHB will even ask Manchester City to open a football academy if all of these plans run smoothly, he revealed.

SHB Da Nang, headquartered in the central city of Da Nang, now stand eighth in the V-League table, whereas T&T Hanoi are one notch below.

Manchester City finished second in the 2014-15 Premier League with 79 points, eight points behind champions Chelsea.

In 2012, club captain Vincent Kompany visited Vietnam at the invitation of another local lender.

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