Amsterdam Tournament

Source From Wikipedia English.

The Amsterdam Tournament (Dutch: Amsterdam Toernooi) was a pre-season association football competition, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The competition was hosted by Eredivisie club Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. It was inaugurated in 1975 as the Amsterdam 700 Tournament to celebrate 700 years of history in the city. It was held annually each summer until 1992, when the last edition of the original tournament was played. It returned in 1999 with the backing of the International Event Partnership (IEP). Four teams participate in the competition, played in a league format since 1986.

Amsterdam Tournament
Founded1975
Abolished2009
RegionEurope
Number of teams4
Last championsBenfica (1st title)
Most successful club(s)Ajax (10 titles)
WebsiteOfficial homepage

Since its return, the tournament has used an unusual point scoring system. As with most league competitions, three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. An additional point, however, is awarded for each goal scored. The system is designed to reward teams that adopt a more attacking style of play. Each entrant plays two matches, with the winner being the club that finishes at the top of the table. The original competition was held at Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium, where Ajax played its international games until 1996. The Amsterdam Arena, now named the Johan Cruyff Arena, has played host to the event since the return until 2009.

The first winners were Belgian club Molenbeek, who defeated Ajax 5–2 in the final. The hosts are the most successful club in the tournament's history, having lifted the trophy on ten occasions. The club won their first title in 1978 and their most recent success came in 2004. Fellow Dutch side AZ and English club Arsenal are the only other teams to have won the competition more than once. Feyenoord, Ajax's domestic rivals, are among a group of clubs to have won the tournament once, while Belgium has produced the most individual winners, four, one more than England and Netherlands.

AZ and Arsenal are also the most regular guests, having been invited to compete in the tournament on six occasions. As well as being the most successful club, Ajax has finished as runners-up eleven times. Next in the list are two Italian clubs, Internazionale and Roma, who has finished in second place five times between them. Romania is the only national team to have taken part in the tournament. They were invited in 1984 and finished in fourth place as Atlético Mineiro became the first Brazilian club to lift the trophy. In total, teams from 13 countries have participated in the competition. The 2010 edition did not take place due to Ajax's involvement in the qualifying stages of the Champions League.

Table key

Tournaments

 
Johan Cruyff scored once in the 1975 tournament for Barcelona.
 
John Wark scored in the 1981 final for Ipswich Town.
 
Frank Rijkaard played in the tournament for Ajax.
Edition Year Winner Runner-up Third Fourth Notes
1 1975   Molenbeek   Ajax   Feyenoord   Barcelona
2 1976   Anderlecht   Borussia M'gladbach   Leeds United
3 1977   AZ   Liverpool   Barcelona
4 1978   Ajax   Anderlecht   AZ   Fluminense
5 1979   AZ   Ajax   Arsenal   Hamburger SV
6 1980   Ajax   AZ   Bayern Munich   Nottingham Forest
7 1981   Ipswich Town   Standard Liège   Ajax   AZ
8 1982   AZ   Ajax   1. FC Köln   Tottenham Hotspur
9 1983   Feyenoord   Roma   Ajax   Manchester United
10 1984   Atlético Mineiro   Ajax   Feyenoord   Romania
11 1985   Ajax   Atlético Mineiro   Athletic Bilbao   Verona
12 1986   Dynamo Kyiv   Ajax   Manchester United   Botafogo
13 1987   Ajax   Torino   Dynamo Kiev   Porto
14 1988   Sampdoria   Flamengo   Ajax   Benfica
15 1989   Mechelen   Ajax   Sporting CP   Dynamo Kyiv
16 1990   Club Brugge   PSV   Mechelen
17 1991   Ajax   PSV   Fluminense   Sampdoria
18 1992   Roma   PSV   Borussia Dortmund
19 1999   Lazio   Santos   Ajax   Atlético Madrid
20 2000   Barcelona   Ajax   Lazio   Arsenal
21 2001   Ajax   Milan   Valencia   Liverpool
22 2002   Barcelona   Manchester United   Parma
23 2003   Internazionale   Galatasaray   Liverpool
24 2004   River Plate   Panathinaikos   Arsenal
25 2005   Arsenal   Porto   Boca Juniors   Ajax
26 2006   Manchester United   Internazionale   Porto
27 2007   Arsenal   Atlético Madrid   Ajax   Lazio
28 2008   Internazionale   Sevilla   Ajax
29 2009   Benfica   Ajax   Sunderland   Atlético Madrid

Statistics

 
Marco van Basten scored in two consecutive finals for Ajax.
 
Pep Guardiola was successful in 2000 with Barcelona.
 
Zlatan Ibrahimović scored in the 2004 tournament for Ajax.
 
Rafael van der Vaart scored two goals for Ajax in the 2002 edition.
 
Steven Gerrard played in the tournament for Liverpool.
 
Wesley Sneijder scored in the 2006 tournament for Ajax.
Team Winner Runner-up Third Fourth Total
  Ajax 10 11 5 3 29
  AZ 3 1 1 1 6
  Arsenal 3 0 1 2 6
  Barcelona 1 1 0 2 4
  Manchester United 1 0 2 1 4
  Feyenoord 1 0 2 0 3
  Dynamo Kyiv 1 0 1 1 3
  Lazio 1 0 1 1 3
  Anderlecht 1 1 0 0 2
  Atlético Mineiro 1 1 0 0 2
  Sampdoria 1 0 0 1 2
  Mechelen 1 0 0 1 2
  Benfica 1 0 0 1 2
  Molenbeek 1 0 0 0 1
  Ipswich Town 1 0 0 0 1
  Club Brugge 1 0 0 0 1
  Internazionale 0 3 0 0 3
  PSV 0 1 2 0 3
  Porto 0 1 1 1 3
  Atlético Madrid 0 1 0 2 3
  Liverpool 0 0 1 2 3
  Roma 0 2 0 0 2
  Fluminense 0 0 1 1 2
  Standard Liège 0 1 0 0 1
  Torino 0 1 0 0 1
  Flamengo 0 1 0 0 1
  Santos 0 1 0 0 1
  Milan 0 1 0 0 1
  River Plate 0 1 0 0 1
  Borussia M'gladbach 0 0 1 0 1
  Bayern Munich 0 0 1 0 1
  1. FC Köln 0 0 1 0 1
  Athletic Bilbao 0 0 1 0 1
  Sporting CP 0 0 1 0 1
  Valencia 0 0 1 0 1
  Galatasaray 0 0 1 0 1
  Panathinaikos 0 0 1 0 1
  Boca Juniors 0 0 1 0 1
  Sevilla 0 0 1 0 1
  Sunderland 0 0 1 0 1
  Leeds United 0 0 0 1 1
  Hamburger SV 0 0 0 1 1
  Nottingham Forest 0 0 0 1 1
  Tottenham Hotspur 0 0 0 1 1
  Romania 0 0 0 1 1
  Verona 0 0 0 1 1
  Botafogo 0 0 0 1 1
  Borussia Dortmund 0 0 0 1 1
  Parma 0 0 0 1 1

See also

References

Specific

General

External links