It’s no big secret that the Reds are in town here in Singapore for their pre-season friendly match against Crystal Palace later today, and the festivities continued with an exclusive Meet & Greet session with media, fans and VIPs.
The event, exclusively organised by Carlsberg, the main sponsor of LFC since 1992 (Fun Fact : also one of the longest current sponsorships in the EPL), was to feature 2 of Liverpool’s First Team players, an exceedingly rare opportunity, given that the team had not been here since 2009.
It all made what happened at The Ritz Carlton Singapore yesterday afternoon all the more special.
Upon being ushered into the private event hall, canapes were served with free flow Carlsberg beer as we awaited, which was a welcome respite from the sweltering afternoon sun.
After some fun Liverpool themed patter from the emcee, the players arrived to much funfare from the 60-odd guests in attendance, and shared some fun nuggets about themselves and the team – did you know that Fabinho likes to listen to Kanye West before a game, and that both players are big fans of Asian cuisine?
Aside from that, the Liverpool veterans expressed their sincere appreciation for the fans on our Little Red Dot, as they voiced their thoughts on the match to come.
“We hope to play our best football. It’ll be nice to play in front of thousands of fans, (who) often don’t have the chance to see us play (live).” said Fabinho, who added, “I know that, no matter if the match is at 1 in the morning or 5 in the morning, most of the fans will watch the game. This shows what this club means to everyone, so thank you for the love!”
Thiago similarly echoed, “Thank you (to all the fans here). We have a great crowd at Anfield that we play (at) everyday, to get out here and see that there are indeed many more Liverpool fans is a crazy and lovely thing to see.”
Following the short, intimate 10-minute session, a photo-taking opportunity was given to the guests in attendance, and as promised, an autographed notebook by the pair was awaiting us as we exited the event hall, freshly signed and handed over by a team representative.
All in all, it was a brilliant day for this Liverpool fan, and very big thank you to Carlsberg for the invite! Personally, I will not be catching the game tonight, but I did manage to catch a glimpse of a certain somebody as I was exiting the hotel on my way out.
As they say, You’ll Never Walk Alone!
SoccerKakis 