Football fans from across the emirate are rejoicing at the recent announcement that the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain will host an exhibition match including some of the world’s greatest players.
Al Ain Football Club, the most successful club in UAE’s football history, will go head-to-head with English Premier League superstars Manchester City in a game that has been long anticipated by the capital’s fans.
Al Ain FC stars, including UAE’s Omar Abdulrahman and Ghanaian Asamoah Gyan, will face the likes of World Cup winner David Silva and Argentine superstar Sergio Aguero.
The state-of-the-art stadium, which was opened in January of this year, will host a crowd of 25,000 supporters on Thursday 15th May.
Apart from lovers of the game being excited about the upcoming match, Ferran Soriano, Manchester City’s chief executive officer, also expressed his delight for being a part of this end-of-season trip.
“It is an honour for us to be part of such an important and prestigious occasion at the magnificent Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium,” said Soriano. “We are all extremely excited about the trip and we are delighted to have been offered the opportunity to play Al Ain in this exhibition game as our season comes to a close.”
Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Khaled Al Nahyan, chairman of the board of Al Ain Football Club, said: “Hazza bin Zayed Stadium is one of the most outstanding sporting structures in the Middle East and the coming together of stars from Al Ain alongside Manchester City is guaranteed to be an exciting night for all UAE football fanatics,” said Al Nahyan. “Al Ain FC is traditionally thought of as the home of UAE football and now we play our matches at the perfect venue to live up to that reputation, and to have Manchester City as our guests is a wonderful step. We look forward to this match.”
