AseanBola

While overseas tours by football clubs have been growing in numbers and miles since the early half of the 20th century, it is in the 21st century when they take a commercial dimension as the big-name teams travel beyond their European comfort zones to reach to various destinations far and wide – Southeast Asia included.

With headlines being made on these tours, AseanBola profiles the Southeast Asian nations and matches each global football club has been to since 2001. Make your conclusions as far as the games, destinations and even trends are concerned.

Manchester United
• July 2001 – Malaysia (6-0 v Malaysia All-Stars), Singapore (8-1 v Singapore XI), Thailand (2-0 v Thailand)
• July 2007 – Malaysia (cancelled after pressure from AFC due to clash with AFC Asian Cup finals held in Southeast Asia)
• July 2009 – Malaysia (3-2 and 2-0 v Malaysia XI), Indonesia (cancelled after Jakarta terrorist bombings)
• July 2013 – Thailand (0-1 v Thai All-Star XI, pictured below)

Liverpool
• July 2001 – Singapore (2-0 v Singapore XI), Thailand (3-0 v Thailand)
• July 2009 – Thailand (1-1 v Thailand), Singapore (5-0 v Singapore)
• July 2011 – Malaysia (6-3 v Malaysia)
• July 2013 – Indonesia (2-0 v Indonesia XI), Thailand (3-0 v Thailand)
• July 2015 – Thailand (4-0 v Thai Premier League XI), Malaysia (1-1 v Malaysia XI, pictured below)

Manchester City
• July 2005 – Thailand (Premier League Asia Trophy, but no Thai opponent in either of their two games)
• May 2008 – Thailand (1-3 v Thai League All-Star XI)
• July 2014 – Malaysia (3-1 v Malaysia XI)
• July 2015 – Vietnam (8-1 v Vietnam, pictured below)

Chelsea
• July 2003 – Malaysia (Premier League Asia Cup, 4-1 v Malaysia)
• July 2008 – Malaysia (2-0 v Malaysia Select XI)
• July 2011 – Malaysia (1-0 v Malaysia XI), Thailand (4-0 v Thailand XI)
• July 2013 – Thailand (1-0 v Singha All-Stars), Malaysia (4-1 v Malaysia XI), Indonesia (8-1 v BNI Indonesia All-Stars)
• May 2015 – Thailand (1-0 v Thailand All-Stars, pictured below)

Arsenal
• July 2011 – Malaysia (4-0 v Malaysia XI)
• July 2012 – Malaysia (2-1 v Malaysia XI)
• July 2013 – Indonesia (7-0 v Indonesia), Vietnam (7-1 v Vietnam, pictured below)
• July 2015 – Singapore (Barclays Premier League Asia Trophy, 4-0 v Singapore Select XI)

Tottenham Hotspur
• May 2015 – Malaysia (2-1 v Malaysia League XI, pictured below)

Internazionale Milan
• May 2012 – Indonesia (3-0 v Indonesia XI, 4-2 v Indonesia, pictured below)

Juventus
• August 2014 – Indonesia (8-1 v Indonesia Super League All-Stars, pictured below), Singapore (5-0 v Singapore Select XI)

Barcelona
• August 2013 – Thailand (7-1 v Thailand U23, pictured below), Malaysia (3-1 v Malaysia XI)

Real Madrid
• August 2003 – Thailand (2-1 v Thailand, pictured below)

Atletico Madrid
• May 2013 – Singapore (2-0 v Singapore Selection, pictured below)

As you will have noticed, these major European clubs end up playing against either national teams or a selection of locals and foreign imports. Inter-club matches are rare, as indicated in this list of games.

Notable inter-club friendly matches

• Selangor MPPJ (Malaysia) 2-3 Norwich City (England) (July 2004)

• Sabah Selection XI (Malaysia) 0-5 Queen’s Park Rangers (England) (July 2012)

• Kelantan FA (Malaysia) 0-5 Queen’s Park Rangers (England) (July 2012)

• Persebaya Surabaya (Indonesia) 1-2 Queen’s Park Rangers (England) (July 2012)

• Selangor FA (Malaysia) 0-2 Sevilla (Spain) (May 2014, pictured below)

• Muangthong United (Thailand) 1-1 UD Almeria (Spain) (July 2014, pictured below)

• Phuket FC (Thailand) 1-3 UD Almeria (Spain) (August 2014, pictured below)

• Johor Darul Ta’zim (Malaysia) 1-6 Borussia Dortmund (Germany) (August 2015, pictured below)