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| One to watch: Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane celebrates scoring against Swansea City in the EPL. Photo: Reuters |
Barely a day or so after winding up their English Premier League campaign, Tottenham Hotspur look to be on their way to Australia to face Sydney FC at ANZ Stadium on May 30.
Contrary to earlier reports on Monday night, the deal has not been finalised but is still expected to be concluded in the next few days with an announcment scheduled for Friday.
Tottenham's final league match of the EPL campaign will be against Everton on May 24, leaving little room for any celebrations should Spurs be able to claw their way into the top four - to qualify for the Champions League - on the final day of the season. They are currently six points behind fourth-place Manchester United but have a game in hand.
As revealed by Fairfax Media last month, Tottenham were competing with Bayern Munich and Chelsea to play the lucrative friendly.
The NSW government and Destination NSW will be tipping in a sizeable chunk of money to bring Tottenham to Australia but it won't come close to the $3 million spent - and recouped - on bringing Manchester United to Australia in 2013.
However, Spurs are one of the most popular clubs in Australia and their appearance at Homebush should see at least 60,000 fans flock from around the country to view Mauricio Pochettino's team in the flesh. It will also be the first time in 30 years that Tottenham have come to Australia.
The North London club boast some of the biggest names in English football, none bigger than free-scoring wonderboy Harry Kane, with fans also sure to be eager to catch a glimpse of Christian Eriksen, Mousa Dembélé, Emmanuel Adebayor, Roberto Soldado, Érik Lamela, Jan Vertonghen and French international goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
The Western Sydney Wanderers were originally in interested in staging the matches but the clubs' hierarchy apparently decided the players would need a rest considering their sizeable workload this past year.
If Sydney FC make the A-League grand final, scheduled for either May 10 or May 17, they will only have to stay in training for another fortnight. Most A-League clubs continue training even after their seasons have been completed.
The arrival of Tottenham marks the first contest in what will be an unusually active off-season for A-League players, with the Socceroos due to host at least one international match in June and the International Champions Cup, featuring Manchester City, Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Roma in July, to be staged at the MCG.
Liverpool are also returning to Australia after two years away, playing against Brisbane Roar and Adelaide United. It's thought that other clubs are also trying to lure big-name overseas teams.
Confirmation of the announcement regarding Tottenham's visit was sought from both Football Federation Australia and Sydney FC but the Sky Blues' chief executive Tony Pignata declined to comment.
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/sydney-fc/sydney-fc-to-face-epl-giants-tottenham-hotspur-at-anz-stadium-in-may-20150302-13t4lt.html
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