Pre-Season Friendly Thread: We're off to Asia!

[Jay29]

Just like in the old forums, this is the thread to discuss everything about pre-season friendlies.

This is Arsenal's pre-season schedule. All given times are UK times:

July 13th, 13:45 - vs Malasyia XI (Tour): 0-4 (Ramsey (pen), Walcott, Vela, Rosicky)
July 16th, 12:30 - vs Hangzhou Greentown (Tour) 1-1 (Vazquez; Vela)
July 23rd, 14:30 - vs FC Köln (A)
July 30th, 16:20 - vs Boca Juniors (Emirates Cup)
July 31st, 16:20 - vs New York Red Bulls (Emirates Cup)
August 6th, TBA* - vs Benfica (Eusebio Cup)

Notes:
* - Will be an evening kick-off, but time is yet to be arranged.

All games will be live on Arsenal Player.

The Emirates Cup is live on ESPN for viewers in the UK.

Also, I'm going to see Arsenal vs Boca Juniors.

We can't ignore the Arsenal XI teams that will be comprised of some of the clubs reserve and youth players, either. Their fixtures were announced recently:

July 15th, N/A - vs Woking (A): 0-3 (Afobe, Aneke, Emmanuel-Thomas)
July 19th, 19:45 - vs Hastings United (A) 0-9 (Özyakup, Emmanuel-Thomas x3, Aneke, Watt, Maede, Freeman x2)
July 23rd, 15:00 - vs Stevenage (A)
July 29th, 19:00 - vs Boreham Wood (A)
August 3rd, 19:45 - vs Dover Athletic (A)

[RealGunner]

same here!!!

[Jay29]

Shame I can't go on the second day and see Thierry Henry against us and the trophy presentation, but beggers can't be choosers I guess.

[TalkingReckless]

can't wait for it.....

arsenal have been out of Europe for the first time in a while

[Sri]

I might be able to watch us against FC Köln on 23 July.. Fingers crossed

[Kiwigunner]

What i would give to have them shown on TV...

[El Gunner]

same here!!!

I like ya'r avatar!

[Spider]

I'm not gonna be able to even see any match on TV -.-

[Sushi Master]

Hope they transmit the Emirates Cup over here. They did last year.

Good luck to the lads in Asia... hopefully Wenger pulls off his charm and generates more fans from there. Everyone can appreciate the beautiful football we play.

[Spider]

All i can say is Fu*@ Aljazeera

[El Gunner]

I'll probably only gonna watch the Emirates Cup

but guys don't be pissed if ya'r not gonna watch any pre season games, i mean it's only pre season

[Jamin]

I'll be in new york guyss!!

i should probably be going.

[A Gunner]

Can't wait for them.

Off-season is boring as hell!

[Jay29]

According to YoungGuns Arsenal will not be playing their traditional friendly against Barnet this year and probably never again. The friendly was basically a "thank you" to Barnet for the use of Underhill Stadium as our reserve ground, but as we don't use their stadium anymore there's not much reason for us to be affiliated with them anymore.

[A Gunner]

Lol I never understood why we used to play them every year and not get better practice against better teams.

Says alot that the moment we stopped using their pitch we stopped playing them lol.

[Sri]

Instead of stopping all together, we should have let our youth team or our reserves have a go at them..

[Jay29]

As a curtain raiser to pre-season it wasn't a bad game. Barnet always gave us a stern test despite being a poor League 2 side.

[A Gunner]

Yeah we have a tendency to give poor teams the proper stage to shine

[A Gunner]

Spider Al jazzera won't be transmitting it this year? :cyclops:

[Sri]

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/free-video-ping-pong-asia-tour-2011

[Kiwigunner]

Ahaha Arsene is amazing

[Sri]

Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce a pre-season friendly against Portuguese side[u] Benfica, to be played in Lisbon on Saturday, August 6 - kick off time TBC.

The Gunners will be taking on the 32-time Portugese Liga winners at their 65,000 capacity Estadio da Luz in an evening match. This will be the first time the teams have played each other since 1992, when Benfica recorded a 4-2 aggregate victory in the Second Round of the European Cup.

Arsenal’s pre-season preparations for the 2011/12 season also include an Asia Tour in July, with friendlies against a Malaysia XI in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, July 13 and Hangzhou Greentown in China’s Zhejiang province on Saturday, July 16.

A trip to Germany to take on FC Cologne follows on Saturday, July 23, before the Gunners’ return to north London to host the Emirates Cup 2011. Arsenal will play Boca Juniors and the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, July 30 and Sunday, July 31 respectively in the two day tournament at Emirates Stadium, which also features Paris Saint-Germain.

[ArsenalWenger]

So I guess that's kinda like the Valencia friendly a while back, will be a very good match to watch

[Jay29]

Should be a good game against Benfica. Very good team and the Estadio da Luz is a beautiful stadium.

[Ali]

I liked barnet

I can't wait until we beat Benfica

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