Ho Chi Minh City, Feb 3 (IANS) Brazil All Stars football side, including legends like Ronaldinho and Romario, is unlikely to play with Vietnam All Stars in April as scheduled because of financial difficulty, local media reported on Wednesday.
“The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) has assigned its secretariat to assist a sponsor in inviting the Brazilian team to play a friendly match in Vietnam, but some problems are arising,” local online newspaper Zing quoted VFF vice president Tran Quoc Tuan as saying.
A foreign partner has asked the Vietnamese sponsor to pay a fee of $1 million U.S. dollars for the Brazilian team’s playing in Vietnam, but the sponsor has found it very hard to meet that requirement, reports Xinhua.
According to a participation agreement signed by Ronaldinho, he and his compatriots will play a minimum of 40 minutes in the friendly game in Vietnam between April 12-17.
Eleven one-time stars, including Ronaldinho, Juliano Haus Belletti, Andre Cruz, Denilson, Djalminha, Edmilson, Elber, Emerson, Kleberson, Luizao and Romario have agreed to play the friendly match, slated for April 15 in Hanoi, Zing reported. Brazil All Stars will be coached by Dunga.
Ronaldinho came to Vietnam for the first time in 2008 along with Olympic Brazil team to play in a friendly game with Vietnam’s national squad.