New signing Deco will also make the trip to Malaysia
Chelsea will be flying in all their stars, including new signings Deco and Jose Bosingwa, for their friendly match against the Malaysian Selection at the Shah Alam Stadium on July 29.
Julian Kam, the chief executive officer of ProEvents, the promoters of the Chelsea tour, said that Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba was the only big name missing from their 23-strong list.
“We are all ready,” Julian said at a press conference to announce the cast and official ‘kick-off’ of the Samsung Chelsea Asia Tour 2008 at the Palace of the Golden Horses yesterday.
“As of today we have not received any confirmation on Drogba ... in the passenger list submitted to us,” said Julian.
The Tour kicks off in Guangzhou on Wednesday.
New Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari and his men will stop over in Macau on July 26 before flying into Malaysia the next day.
The Chelsea cast also includes the likes of skipper John Terry, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Michael Essien, Andriy Shevchenko and Shaun Wright Phillips.
Julian said that response for tickets had been encouraging – with group bookings received from the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Hong Kong and Indonesia.
“We have put 60,000 tickets up for sale and we have managed to sell 30 per cent,” said Julian, who expects sales to pick up in the next 10 days.
Meanwhile, France-based Titus James has been called up by national coach B. Sathianathan to attend trials to play against Chelsea.
“We have been in contact the last couple of months and he (Titus) has said he would come for the trials,” said Sathianathan yesterday.
Tickets for the match are priced at RM33, RM53, RM83, RM103 and limited VIP tickets at RM303.
A total of 1,000 tickets have also been allocated for school children at a special price of RM23.
Tickets can be purchased at TicketPro sales outlets and selected Adidas outlets nationwide. Fans can call up the TicketPro hotline at 03-78807999 or book online at
www.ticketpro.com.my.
www.ticketpro.com.my.
