LONDON: Dominic Thiem’s current attention might be on the ATP Finals, but in a week’s time his focus will switch to another sport close to his heart.
Moments after defeating Pablo Carreno Busta at the O2 Arena on Wednesday, the world No.4 wrote a message on a camera. It read ‘FC Fantazisti vs. 1.TFC.’ A reference to an upcoming football friendly that he will take part in.
“It’s not a charity match. We played one match after the US Open where we played in Austria.” Explained Thiem. “I have a football team at home with Austrian tennis players, and they did the same in Slovenia. From time to time we do some international friendly games. I wanted to promote it a little bit.”
1.TFC is a football club founded by Thiem. The team features members from around the world, who also pursue other careers. On his website, the Austrian said he created the club to ‘further cultivate friendships and foster values such as tolerance, solidarity, discipline, teamwork and camaraderie.’ Both amateur and elite players are involved.
Slovenian side FC Fantazisti will feature some athletes that Thiem have previously battled against on a tennis court. One of those is Alijaz Bedene, who was born in the country, but now represents Great Britain.
“I am very excited to meet again with the Austrians. We lost the first match to the guests on penalties, so that there was a bit of bitter tune. We want to win and prove that we are better.” Bedene told Zurnal 24 last week.
Thiem’s position on the pitch is either ‘centre or midfield.’ Joking that it is a position where he can ‘take care of the game.’
The friendly will take place on November 25th at the National Football Centre in Brdo. A state-of-the-art facility that is also the base for the Slovenian Football Association (NZS). Kick-off will be at 2pm local time.
Highlights of the penalty shoot-out between the two teams in their first clash can be seen in this video.
