Japan’s Yokohama Football Club will play a friendly match against SHB Da Nang at the city’s Hoa Xuan Stadium on 20 January, a representative of SHB Da Nang said on Wednesday.

SHB Da Nang player Hai Lam (left) plays in an international match in Da Nang. — VNS Photo Tran Lam

The friendly match, which will start around 3.30pm next Saturday, will form part of activities marking the 45^th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Japan and Viet Nam.

As planned, the Japanese football club will begin training at the new 20,000-seat Hoa Xuan Stadium from 16 January, according to SHB Da Nang.

Yokohama FC will train in the coastal city until 23 January in preparation for the new football season in J-League 2.

The Da Nang team won the V League championship in 1992, 2009 and 2012, but ranked 9^th in the championship of 2017.

The friendly match will be free for local football fans.

In 2015, Yokohama agreed a one-year loan contract with Vietnamese Nguyen Tuan Anh in playing in J-League 2.  Two years ago, representatives of Barcelona football school in Asia and Oceania (FCBEscola) and Manchester City Football Services had working sessions with SHB on the possibility of constructing football academies in the city.

The city has hosted the annual Viet Nam-Japan Culture Exchange since 2014.

Japanese tourists were the second largest foreign group visiting Da Nang with more than 400,000 tourists in total each year.

Direct routes has already been opened from Da Nang to Osaka, Narita and Tokyo in a bid to attract more visitors to one another.

(Source: VNS/ DA NANG Today)