Arsenal Preseason Summer Tour 2013 will stop in Vietnam for historic visit

Per a report at Reuters via The Star Online, Arsenal, already off to Indonesia as part of the club's preseason summer 2013 tour, will play a football friendly in Vietnam on 17 July against the country's national team.

This historic match will feature the first Premier League side to grace the Asian country. Like the rest of the continent, Vietnam is football mad.

Arsenal will arrive in Hanoi on 15 July and will end the three-day tour at My Dinh National Stadium per the Vietnam Football Federation.

Manchester City and Tottenham as well as Chelsea all intend to visit Southeast Asia this summer for preseason football friendlies and Manchester United and Liverpool are also gearing up, scheduling football friendlies throughout the region for summer 2013.

The Hoang Anh Gia Lai-Arsenal JMG Academy, already a fixture in Vietnam, should receive a visit from the North London club players and staff during the visit.

Read more 2013 Premier League Preseason Tours news and reports.

Video via NYC Arsenal Supporters official YouTube Channel.

Asia to Europe Football Pipeline: Sriwijaya winger Rizky Ramdani Lestaluhu

Who?

Rizky Ramdani Lestaluhu, a 21-year-old right winger who recently arrived at Indonesian football club Sriwijaya via Persija Jakarta where he competed in over fifty matches.

The Indonesian youth international footballer helped lead his country to silver at the 2011 Southeast Asian Games. If he continues to perfect his technical skills and works at increasing speed and core strength, a move to European football is within his abilities.

Read more 2013 Asia to Europe Football Pipeline posts below.

+ Indonesia youth international Syamsir Alam
+ Malaysia international Mahali Jasuli

English football clubs battle for Indonesian supporters in summer 2013

The Arsenal Indonesia Fan Club travels to a Gunners preseason 2012 Asia Tour exhibition match.

Football Friendlies already highlighted Chelsea's decision to promote its brand in Indonesia during the club's Asia Tour 2013.

Arsenal, per the club's official website, announced that the London side will visit Jakarta in July in order to square off against the Indonesian national football team at the Gelora Bung Karno stadium.

Whilst the Asian nation sports massively popular clubs such as Arema FC, Persib Bandung and Persija Jakarta, there's no denying that English sides also are immensely supported there.

And those English Premier League clubs are keenly aware of this fact per Tech In Asia.

That said, for many Indonesians, in West Java it's still Persib Bandung as with Arema in East Java or Persija Jakarta in the capital.

Our question, just who does attract the most support in Indonesia?

Is it Arsenal, Arema FC, Chelsea, Manchester United, Persib Bandung or Persija Jakarta?

Feel free to support your club in the comments section below.

Video via Selangor TV News YouTube Channel.

Chelsea Asia Tour 2013 announced

Chelsea FC are going back to Asia after a successful 2011 tour. This preseason edition of Here to Play, Here to Stay will feature matches in Thailand (Bangkok), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and Indonesia (Jakarta).

+ Singha Thailand All-Star XI in the Singha Cup at the Rajamanagala National Stadium on Wednesday July 17 in Bangkok

+ Malaysia XI at the Shah Alam Stadium on Sunday July 21 in Kuala Lumpur

+ Indonesia XI in the BNI Cup at the 88,000-seater Gelora Bung Karno Stadium on Thursday July 25 in Jakarta.

Video via Chelsea FC Official YouTube Channel.

Which Academy and U-21 players do you want to see get filtered in with the first-team footballers in Asia? Hoping Tika Musonda gets a good run out.

Syamsir Alam and D.C. United, will the collaboration work?

Report today from Soccer Insider Steven Goff of The Washington Post regarding 20-year-old Indonesian youth international footballer Syamsir Alam now able to proceed with team workouts after visa issues ended.

By the looks of his Twitter account @syamsiralam, the midfielder and an Internet sensation with 107,000+ followers, hopes to turn his season on-loan into a productive one.

An advocate of Alam, United's majority owner and fellow Indonesian Erick Thohir, appears eager to see his countryman succeed posting on his Twitter account per Brian Straus of The Sporting News:

"So happy, finally DC United has an Indonesian player. Hope Alam can perform. Jaya Indonesia."

Will this experiment be an overstep by ownership, will Alam become a staple in Major League Soccer and blaze a trail for other Indonesian football players to follow or will Alam return to his current club Belgian side C.S. Vise without making much of a difference in D.C.?

Video via fahrudhy YouTube Channel.