Stephan Schröck, Roland Muller, and Anton del Rosario will be joining an All-Star team to represent Southeast Asia in the TST $1 Million Winner Takes All tournament in June.
From the creators of ‘The Basketball Tournament,’ TBT Enterprises is hosting a new football version of their high-stakes basketball competition.
This new version is called ‘The Soccer Tournament’ (TST). It is a winner-takes-all football tournament and will feature 32 teams from around the world. This includes the Far East team, representing Southeast Asia.
Anton del Rosario, a former Azkal, is managing the Far East team and is pulling together talented players from around the region. Included are other Filipino players such as former Azkals captain Stephan Schröck — who recently announced his retirement from international football — as well as former keeper, Roland Muller.
In addition to the Philippine talents, del Rosario also included the former captain of the Thailand national team, Mark Klock, along with more players from other nations, such as Brunei.
How does the tournament work?
TBT Enterprises is launching The Soccer Tournament (TST) on June 1, 2023. in North Carolina, United States.
Similar to its basketball counterpart, TST will follow a winner-takes-all format where the champions will walk away with $1 million. However, instead of the standard 11-on-11, TST will follow a 7-on-7 format.
The tournament will follow the same structure as the World Cup. All 32 teams will compete in a group stage, from which the top teams per group will advance to the knockout rounds. In addition, the entire competition will span over five days.
The best part is that the tournament is open to all.
So far, TST has only announced a few teams officially in their lineup, but only a few slots remain open for entry. The competition welcomes all for an entry fee, which can cost from $10,000 to $20,000.
With this, players from all over the world have assembled their own teams to join in the football action.
Who else is playing?
Apart from the Far East team, which includes players from Southeast Asia, teams from the United States have also entered. And, several of them are backed by well-known celebrities.
American football legend Clint Dempsey, for example, founded his own team called Team Dempsey. In addition to this, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, owners of the British football club Wrexham United, are also backing a TST team.
Actress Eva Longoria, German football player Mesut Ozil, and NBA players Shawn Marion and Rip Hamilton are also supporters of the tournament. With this, it is clear that TST has caught the eye of many personalities.
With this, our representatives from the Philippines, Schröck, Muller, and del Rosario, will be facing talents from around the world in this winner-takes-all tournament.
TST officially kicks off its inaugural season on June 1, 2023. The championship match is to take place on June 4.
ESPN will be broadcasting the tournament live.
Banner image from Stephan Schröck on Instagram.
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