The clash at ANZ Stadium on 30 May will be officially announced on Friday, with Spurs – beaten 2-0 in the League Cup final by Chelsea at the weekend – to bring all its big guns including rising star Harry Kane, Danish midfield wizard Christian Eriksen and highly-prized French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.
The duel, confirmed by London sources on Monday, comes six days after Tottenham’s final league game of the season at Everton, with the London club still in the hunt for a top-four finish and qualification for the UEFA Champions League.
Organisers, which include the New South Wales State Government, are expecting a crowd approaching 60,000 at the venue which most recently staged the AFC Asian Cup final between Australia and Korea Republic.
Should Sydney reach the A-League grand final, slated for either 10 or 17 May, it would still be in full combat mode to take on a Spurs team led by Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino.
The Sky Blues beat fellow London club West Ham 3-1 in a pre-season tournament in Wellington last July and was beaten 1-0 by fellow Premier League outfit Everton 1-0 at Allianz Stadium in 2010.
It’s understood Asian champion Western Sydney Wanderers pulled out of the running to face Spurs because it wanted to give its players a breather after a gruelling 12 months.
Confirmation of Tottenham’s first visit to Australia in 30 years tops off an already star-spangled winter with Melbourne to host the International Champions Cup featuring Real Madrid, Manchester City and Roma at the MCG while English giant Liverpool faces Brisbane Roar in the Queensland capital and Adelaide United at Adelaide Oval the same month.
Spurs, who have a large Aussie fan base, competed in the 1985 world series tournament in Australia along with the Socceroos, Vasco Da Gama and Udinese, having faced the national team and representative sides from NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia in its inaugural visit in 1976.
