Diego Pablo Simeone and Gabi met the Singapore media in the presentation of the charity match for the 'Singapore Olympic Foundation' that the first team will play against a selection of players in the host country on Friday at 14 pm (Spanish time). The Atletico representatives were joined in the press conference by the coach of the opposing team, V.Sundramoorthy and team captain Shahril Ishak.

Simeone thanked the treatment he has received since arriving at dawn yesterday. "We are happy to be here. Since we arrived we have been looked after in the best way. T makes us happy to participate and collaborate with the Foundation in pursuit of benefit and that there is a good game and at the same time people can have fun".

The Argentine coach believes the trip is a great way to keep bonding the squad. "We come with great joy. After the victory, coming here and being together makes us to share what happened just two days ago and that generates a lot of excitement in the group," he said.

The team’s schedule is tight, but the coach is confident that Wednesday's match will be useful to prepare for the league match they will face next weekend. "Today we will rest and sleep a little. Tomorrow morning we’ll train and compete on Wednesday looking towards Sunday’s league game."

Meanwhile, Gabi, took stock of the outstanding performances since the start of the season. "After a great season and getting into the Champions League, the Cup is the icing on a great year. I believe that the team has grown and it is a dream come true for all the squad, after so long without a win at Real Madrid, I think it is very important to the club," he said.

However, the squad is still ambitious. "We hope to keep growing as a team and achieving more goals," he said. For the midfielder, the trip to Singapore is a good opportunity to introduce the Atletico Madrid brand in the country. "Hopefully this will bring us a little closer to football in Singapore and this partnership will help us to integrate a little bit more, so that people know us and enjoy with us," he said.

Agreement with Singapore Soccer Federation

Before the press conference our captain and Diego Pablo Simeone signed a collaboration agreement between the Football Association of Singapore and our club. Present at the event were Miguel Angel Gil, CEO of the club, Enrique Cerezo, president, Mr Chris Chan (Director of the Singapore Olympic Foundation), Mr. Zainudin Nordin (president of the Singapore Football Association) and Mr. Lim Kian Tong (vicepresident of the Singapore Football Association).