Excitement building ahead of inaugural Shopee Cup™ group stage kick-off on 21 August

The group stage of the inaugural ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ kicks-off next week on August 21^st when the cream of the region’s domestic leagues go head-to-head in their quest to be crowned kings of Southeast Asian football.Six crucial Shopee Cup™ matches will be played across Wednesday, August 21^st and Thursday, August 22^nd in Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia in the first of five group stage rounds to be held until February, with teams determined to make a positive start.“There’s been a lot of excitement building up for our first game in the Shopee Cup™, it’s a new tournament and it’s one that is massively important to us,” says Lion City Sailors FC’s Bailey Wright ahead of his club’s Group B match with Indonesia’s Borneo FC on Thursday.“Borneo FC are going to be a tough challenge for us, we know that. They’re a top team in Indonesia who have done really well. They’ve got some top players and they’ll be tough to play against.“But we’re looking forward to going there and putting on a performance in a different type of atmosphere, a tough atmosphere to play football in. That excites us. We know it’s going to be tough but we’re going in with a lot of positivity and confidence.”The Sailors will bring strong Singapore Premier League form into the Shopee Cup™ fixture at Batakan Stadium in Balikpapan, having scored 16 times in their previous three matches and face a Borneo side that started their Liga 1 campaign on Monday with a 3-1 win over Semen Padang FC.The pair will be chasing one of two places in the Shopee Cup™ semi-finals alongside Vietnam’s Công An Hà Nội FC, who host Thailand League 1 champions Buriram United FC in Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi, while Philippines champions Kaya-Iloilo FC take on Kuala Lumpur City FC from Malaysia at Stadium Bola Sepak in Kuala Lumpur.“There is no doubt that this is a very tough group, but it is wonderful to be able to play against champions from each country, and it is a good opportunity for us to grow,” Kaya-Iloilo FC coach Yu Hoshide says of the Shopee Cup™.“Of course, it is not an easy task, but we must do our best in every match with a never-give-up spirit. If we do that, the results will come to us.“I think this tournament between club teams, where national pride is at stake, is a wonderful tournament that gives dreams and goals to the people playing football in Southeast Asia.”Shopee Cup™ matches in Group A will be played on Wednesday at Batakan Stadium, with Indonesian champions PSM Makassar taking on Thailand’s BG Pathum United FC in a blockbuster clash between two of the region’s leading sides.Vietnam’s Đông Á Thanh Hóa FC meanwhile, will host playoff winners Shan United FC from Myanmar at the Thahn Hoa Province Stadium, while Cambodia’s Svay Rieng FC, who also progressed through the qualifying round, travel to Malaysia to take on Terengganu FC at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium.Teams will face off in five home-or-away group matches until February 6^th, when the top two finishers in each group will advance to home-and-away semi-finals for a place in a two-legged final, which will be played on May 14^th and 21^st.The Shopee Cup™ season 2024/25 match schedule with kick-off times and venues is attached.To purchase Shopee Cup™ match tickets, please contact the participating clubs.

#AFF

- Advertisement -