Soccer-Brazil to face Asian champions Japan in Singapore
By Patrick Johnston SINGAPORE, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Five-times world champions Brazil will play reigning Asian Cup winners Japan in a football friendly in Singapore's new $1 billion sports complex in October, organisers announced on Thursday. The Oct. 14 fixture will be one of the first for the new head coaches of both teams who had disappointing showings at last month's World Cup, with hosts Brazil humbled 7-1 by eventual winners Germany in the semi-finals and Japan exiting at the group stage. Brazil fired Luiz Felipe Scolari and replaced him with former coach Dunga, while Italian Alberto Zaccheroni stepped down from his role with the Blue Samurai to be succeeded by Mexican Javier Aguirre. Singapore's new sports hub, which opened in June, features a 55,000 seat stadium with a retractable roof and moveable seating making it flexible enough to host football, cricket, rugby and athletics events. The fixture is a further feather in the cap for the wealthy Southeast Asian citystate's push to become a centre for world class sport in the absence of domestic talents. The complex's smaller 12,000-seat indoor stadium will host the WTA Finals - women's tennis' end-of-season event - in October for the first time. (Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
