Lunar New Year Cup: Fernando Torres and Graziano Pelle confirmed to play in Hong Kong showpiece

Overseas teams confirmed the participation of their top players in the forthcoming Lunar New Year Cup headed by Fernando Torres of Sagan Tosu according to tournament organisers on Wednesday.

A video featuring the former Spain international and his teammate Hideto Takahashi showed the two Tosu players both saying they were looking forward to the Hong Kong tournament, which takes place on the Chinese New Year’s Day on February 5 and February 7 at Hong Kong Stadium.

Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng also featured two of their foreign players in former Italy international Graziano Pelle and Carlos Gilberto of Brazil in the footage. Centre half Gilberto even spoke in Cantonese to say “kung hei fat choy” to fans.

Pegasus boss Steven Lo Kit-sing of the organisers said the footage proved the overseas teams would bring their top players to Hong Kong and that they were taking the tournament very seriously.

“This will be an exciting tournament that the fans should not miss,” Lo said. “We want to bring a good environment in the beginning of the Chinese New Year showing football always plays an important role in the community.”

The organisers said they would need to sell 20,000 tickets (one ticket for two days) to balance the budget, but hoped to reach their 30,000-ticket target.

Lo said over 10,000 tickets have been sold while there are 2,000 tickets left in the highest priced ticket bracket of HK$480.

The overseas teams, which also include Auckland City of New Zealand’s Premiership, will arrive on Sunday, February 3.

A Pegasus Select XI of the hosts will play against Tosu while Shandong will take on the New Zealanders in the first day. The two winners will meet two days later for the winning prize of US$50,000.