Emirates Cup
The Emirates Cup is an annual two-day pre-season football tournament held at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium in London, England[1], similar in style to the Amsterdam Tournament held by AFC Ajax, and is hosted by Premier League side Arsenal.
Tournament host Arsenal is the current holder of the Trophy, who have won the trophy 2 of the past 3 years.
Much like the Amsterdam Tournament, each team will play two matches, with three points awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and a point for every goal scored. From the 2009 edition, if teams are tied on points, goal difference and goals scored, they are ranked by the total shots on target during the tournament.
The inaugural tournament took place on July 28 and July 29 2007 and featured the hosts, as well as reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan, French side Paris Saint-Germain and Spanish outfit Valencia (having replaced Hamburger SV, who had to pull out of the tournament because of Intertoto Cup commitments [2]). Arsenal did not play against Valencia, and Inter Milan did not play against Paris Saint-Germain. The tournament was well attended with over 110,000 filling the Emirates stadium across the two day tournament.
As of 2008, Emirates have since agreed to host the tournament for a further three years. The 2008 Emirates Cup participants were Real Madrid, Juventus and Hamburger SV.[3]
The 2009 Emirates Cup took place on August 1 and August 2 and is set to feature Atletico Madrid, Rangers, Paris Saint-Germain and hosts Arsenal.
Media coverage
The Emirates Cup is broadcasted by Sky Sports in the UK, Al Jazeera Sports in the Middle East and Gol TV in the United States. Sky Sports and Gol TV have signed a three year deal to broadcast the tournament. In 2008, Arsenal awarded sports production firm Kentaro the production, arranging sponsorship and rights distribution of the tournament. [4] Live audio broadcast is available via the Arsenal website, through their subscription based Arsenal TV online service.
The trophy
The sterling silver cup was made by Thomas Fattorini, whose family has produced trophies for English football since 1827. It was awarded to Arsenal FC, the winners of the inaugural pre-season tournament at Emirates Stadium on July 29 2007.
"We wanted to create a design that both stood out from other international football trophies and something that a club would be proud to place in their cabinet," said Fattorini.
"Emirates Stadium has very iconic, asymmetrical flowing lines across the rooftop, which motivated identical lines in the original brand identity for the stadium. The base, lip and handles of the trophy mirror these, with the Emirates logo placed firmly on the face of the cup.
Tournament History
All games are played at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, London, England. All referees and officials are English registered. All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1)
2007 tournament
Day 1
Inter Milan | 0 – 2 | Valencia |
---|---|---|
Match Report | Gavilan 13' Villa 39' |
Arsenal | 2 – 1 | Paris Saint-Germain |
---|---|---|
Flamini 45' Bendtner 70' |
Match Report | Luyindula 80' |
Day 2
Paris Saint-Germain | 3 – 0 | Valencia |
---|---|---|
Diane 15' N'Gog 30' Luyindula 85' |
Match Report |
Arsenal | 2 – 1 | Inter Milan |
---|---|---|
Hleb 67' van Persie 85' |
Match Report | Suazo 62' |
Final Tournament Standings
Rank | Team | Points | W | D | GF | GA | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Arsenal | 10 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
2 | Paris Saint-Germain | 7 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
3 | Valencia | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | -1 |
4 | Inter Milan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -3 |
Scorers
2008 tournament
Day 1
Real Madrid | 2 – 1 | Hamburg |
---|---|---|
van Nistelrooy 25' Parejo 85' |
Match Report | Zidan 53' |
Arsenal | 0 – 1 | Juventus |
---|---|---|
Match Report | Trezeguet 37' |
Day 2
Arsenal | 1 – 0 | Real Madrid |
---|---|---|
Adebayor 49' (pen.) | Match Report |
Final Tournament Standings
Rank | Team | Points | GF | GA | GD |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hamburg | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
2 | Real Madrid | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
3 | Arsenal | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
4 | Juventus | 4 | 1 | 3 | -2 |
Scorers
Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Ivica Olić | Hamburg | 2 |
2 | Daniel Parejo Muñoz | Real Madrid | 1 |
David Trezeguet | Juventus | ||
Ruud van Nistelrooy | Real Madrid | ||
Mohamed Zidan | Hamburg | ||
Paolo Guerrero | Hamburg | ||
Emmanuel Adebayor | Arsenal |
2009 tournament
Day 1
Rangers | 1 – 0 | Paris Saint-Germain |
---|---|---|
Bougherra 76' | Report |
Arsenal | 2 – 1 | Atlético Madrid |
---|---|---|
Arshavin 86' 90' | Report | Pacheco 88' |
Day 2
Paris Saint-Germain | 1 – 1 | Atlético Madrid |
---|---|---|
Giuly 71' | Match Report | Agüero 41' (pen.) |
Arsenal | 3 – 0 | Rangers |
---|---|---|
Wilshere 2' 72' Eduardo 10' |
Match Report |
Tournament Standings
For the 2009 Emirates Cup, the 'Shots on Target' statistic will be used to decide the winner of the competition when two or more teams are level on points, goal difference and goals scored. This statistic was chosen by Arsène Wenger and other Arsenal officials from hundreds of other suggestions sent in by Arsenal supporters.
Rank | Team | Points | GF | GA | GD | SOT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Arsenal | 11 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 13 |
2 | Rangers | 4 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 7 |
3 | Atlético Madrid | 3 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 11 |
4 | Paris Saint-Germain | 2 | 1 | 2 | -1 | 4 |
Scorers
Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Andrei Arshavin | Arsenal | 2 |
Jack Wilshere | Arsenal | ||
2 | Madjid Bougherra | Rangers | 1 |
Germán Pacheco | Atlético Madrid | ||
Sergio Agüero | Atlético Madrid | ||
Ludovic Giuly | Paris Saint-Germain | ||
Eduardo | Arsenal |
Arsenal's Jack Wilshere was chosen as the Man of the Match in both of Arsenal's matches, and also the Emirates Player of the Tournament.
Trophy winners
|2007| Arsenal |2008| Hamburg |2009| Arsenal
References
- ^ Emirates Stadium to host pre-season tournament Arsenal.com, April 29 2007
- ^ Valencia set to replace Hamburg at Emirates Cup Arsenal.com, June 11 2007
- ^ European giants lined up for Emirates Cup Arsenal.com, April 7 2008
- ^ Kentaro - Tournaments