The Algarve’s only Primeira Liga team will participate in the prestigious Lunar New Year Cup in Hong Kong at the end of the month.
Olhanense become the first Portuguese team to be invited and will compete against FC Tokyo (Japan), FC Krylya Sovetov (Russia) and Citizen Cuenca United (Hong Kong).
The tournament dates back to 1948 and many international teams including Brazil, Denmark, Sweden and Mexico have taken part in the past. Aston Villa were runners-up in 1991 and last year’s winners were Busan IPark from South Korea. The games will be played over the period January 31 to February 3 and consequently Olhanense’s next league fixture, away at P.Ferreira, has been moved to Wednesday, February 5.
Igor Campedelli (pictured), Vice-President of the Olhanense SAD and major shareholder, said: “We are very happy to participate in this highly-rated tournament in world football. The investors had three major objectives when we became involved last summer. Firstly, to save the club financially, which we did, and secondly to keep the club in the Primeira Liga which we are striving to do.”
The Italian entrepreneur went on to say: “Our third objective is to gain international recognition for Olhanense, the town of Olhão and Portuguese football in general. This is the first step on that journey.”
