Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has talked up his club’s fans across the world, as the Gunners travel to Asia for the first leg of their pre-season tour.
Giroud and his Arsenal team-mates will head to Singapore for the Barclays Asia Trophy featuring Everton and Stoke City as well. The Gunners open their tournament against a Singapore Select XI on the 15th of July.
The French striker has talked up the experience of playing in front of Arsenal’s passionate worldwide fans.
“It’s always a pleasure and a really good experience because you can see the fans are crazy all over the world", he told his club's site.
“They support the team until they die and they are fantastic.
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“A proper fan has to learn all the Arsenal songs so it’s nice to hear them singing our songs and the way they are singing is even more surprising because they sing with their heart”, he said to Arsenal’s official website.
The 28-year-old, who was part of the Arsenal squad that toured Vietnam in the summer of 2013, has reflected on his experience with the club’s fans, and feels such support motivates him to perform better on the pitch.
“I remember when we landed in Vietnam very early in the morning but there were 2,000 people who were waiting for us and cheering us on.
“It was a great feeling and it makes you want to produce even better performances when you get onto the pitch,” he added.
The Gunners’ short stay in Asia is followed by their annual pre-season tournament, the Emirates Cup at home. Lyon, Wolfsburg and Villarreal complete the line-up for the tournament which will start from the 25th of July.
