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The Amsterdam Tournament is an annual association football tournament played in the pre-season, hosted by AFC Ajax. It is organised by the International Event Partnership (IEP).

The Amsterdam Tournament in its present form is the successor to the Amsterdam 700 Tournament, which began life in 1975 to celebrate 700 years of the city of Amsterdam's history. It was thereafter held annually until 1992, when the last edition of the "old" tournament was played. The next edition was not played until 1999, when the tournament got off the ground with the backing of the IEP.

The tournament involves four teams, one of which is always the hosts, AFC Ajax. Other teams to have competed in the tournament since its reincarnation in 1999 include Arsenal, AC Milan , River Plate, Boca Juniors, FC Barcelona, Galatasaray, Manchester United, Liverpool, Internazionale, Lazio, Panathinaikos, FC Porto, Santos, Sevilla FC, Sunderland,Valencia CF, and Benfica.

The tournament has four matches, all played at Ajax's home ground, the Amsterdam Arena. The games take place over three days in July or August, the second of which is used to rest between the first and third days. The only exceptions to this are the 1999 and 2006 tournaments, which took place over only two days, with no rest day in between.

The Amsterdam Tournament uses an unusual points-scoring system. As with most football, a victory results in three points; a draw in one; and a defeat in none. However, teams are rewarded one extra point for every goal they score. For example, a 3-3 draw brings the same number of points as a 1-0 victory brings to the winner (4 points). This system is designed to encourage more attacking football.

As it is a pre-season friendly tournament, games are typically not played as competitively as matches during the main season. In spite of this, it is still taken as a useful gauge of each team's ability going into the new season.

Ajax, who have played in the tournament every year since 1999 have won the tournament the most times with 4. Arsenal have won the tournament on 3 occasions, making them the most successful team other than the hosts to appear in the tournament. The tournament has then led to the idea of the creation of the, Emirates Cup, which is based on a similar system.

[edit] Tournaments (since 1999)

Year	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
1999	Lazio	Santos	Ajax	Atlético Madrid
2000	FC Barcelona	Ajax	Lazio	Arsenal
2001	Ajax	Liverpool	Milan	Valencia
2002	Ajax	FC Barcelona	Manchester United	Parma
2003	Ajax	Internazionale	Galatasaray	Liverpool
2004	Ajax	River Plate	Panathinaikos	Arsenal
2005	Arsenal	Porto	Boca Juniors	Ajax
2006	Manchester United	Internazionale	Porto	Ajax
2007	Arsenal	Atlético Madrid	Ajax	Lazio
2008	Arsenal	Internazionale	Sevilla	Ajax
2009	Benfica	Ajax	Sunderland	Atlético Madrid

[edit] Amsterdam Tournament winners

Amsterdam 700 Tournament

1975 - Molenbeek, Belgium
1976 - Anderlecht, Belgium
1977 - AZ '67 (AZ), Netherlands
1978 - Ajax, Netherlands
1979 - AZ '67 (AZ), Netherlands
1980 - Ajax, Netherlands
1981 - Ipswich Town, England
1982 - AZ '67 (AZ), Netherlands
1983 - Feyenoord, Netherlands

[edit] 2008 Tournament

Main article: Amsterdam Tournament 2008

The 2008 tournament was contested by Ajax, Arsenal, Internazionale and Sevilla on 8 August and 9 August 2008 at the Amsterdam ArenA. Arsenal won the tournament with 8 points.

[edit] 2009 Tournament

Main article: Amsterdam Tournament 2009

The 2009 competition has taken place between 24-26 July 2009 and featured Ajax, Atletico Madrid, Sunderland A.F.C and Benfica. Benfica won with 11 points.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links