Future Cup

ABN AMRO Future Cup
Founded 2010
Region Worldwide
Number of teams 8
Current champions Arsenal (1st title)
Most successful club(s) Ajax and Anderlecht (3 titles each)
Television broadcasters Eredivisie Live
Eurosport
Fox Sports
2015 Future Cup

The Future Cup (officially known as the ABN AMRO Future Cup, and previously known as the AEGON Future Cup) is an annual friendly international youth tournament which is organized by the Dutch football club AFC Ajax.[1] The tournament is created for under-17 youth teams, and is held at the Amsterdam ArenA, every year during the Easter weekend.[2] The tournament has been contested by some of the strongest under-17 teams in football, with FC Barcelona, Manchester United and Bayern München amongst the participating clubs.[3] The first five editions of the tournament were named after its main sponsor, the insurance company AEGON, before the Dutch state-owned bank ABN AMRO took over as the main sponsor of the event.[4] The tournament is broadcast on television in over 59 countries via Eredivisie Live, Eurosport and Fox Sports.[5][6][7]


Qualification

8 teams participate in the Future Cup every year.[8] Since Ajax are the tournament hosts, they are automatically entered, leaving 7 additional places available in the tournament.[9] Six of the spots can be filled with a simple registration of an under-17 team from any club, while national teams are also able to register, such as the China U-17 team did when it competed in the first edition of the competition.[10] The eighth and final position is filled by the winners of the Brazilian 'Craques Mongeral AEGON Future Cup - Um Torneio do Ajax' a parallel running competition for under-17 youth teams in South America which shares the same sponsor. The winner of that tournament is automatically seeded for the Future Cup in Amsterdam the next year, completing the 8 participants in the Cup challenge.[11]

Format

The draw takes place ahead of the last home match of the Ajax first team ahead of the Future Cup.[12] The 8 teams are then divided up into two groups during halftime of this match. The opening ceremony of the tournament takes place on the Friday evening before Easter, while the first matches are played on Holy Saturday. The first two group stage matches are played for each team on this day, while the last two group stage matches are then contested on Easter Sunday.[13] The finals are played on Monday, the second Easter day. The day starts with the matches for the 7th and 8th place, which are contested by the two teams who finished bottom of their groups.[14] Afterwards the two semi-finals are played.[15] The group winners of each group compete against the second place team of the other group, and after the two semi-finals the matches for 5th and 6th place are contested against the third place team from each group.[16] The matches for 3rd and 4th place are then contested amongst the losers of the Semi-finals, which is concluded by the Cup final, deciding the 1st and 2nd place.[17] The awards and trophies are awarded directly after the Final, at which all teams and coaches are present.[18]

Finals

Statistics accurate as of ABN AMRO Future Cup 2015. [19]

Year Date Winner Result Finalist
2016 28 March 2016 Arsenal England 0–0 (4-3 pen.) Belgium Anderlecht
2015 6 April 2015 Anderlecht Belgium 0–0 (4-3 pen.) Netherlands Ajax
2014 21 April 2014 Ajax Netherlands 2–1 England Liverpool
2013 1 April 2013 Anderlecht Belgium 2–0 Netherlands Ajax
2012 9 April 2012 Ajax Netherlands 2–2 (5–3 pen.) England Manchester United
2011 25 April 2011 Anderlecht Belgium 1–0 Netherlands Ajax
2010 5 April 2010 Ajax Netherlands 1–0 China China U-17

Prizes

The winner of the AEGON Future Cup are obvious winners of the tournament. For this information please see the next segment below. Other prizes are however awarded in conclusion, which are handed out by prominent former and current Ajax members, with Frank de Boer, Martin Jol and Luis Suárez amongst those who have awarded the trophies.[20] The man of the tournament is selected and awarded the adidas Best player of AEGON Future Cup award. Below is a list of the prize winners over the years:

YearPlayerClub:
2016 Spain Riqui Puig Spain Barcelona
2015 Netherlands Matthijs de Ligt Netherlands Ajax
2014 Netherlands Abdelhak Nouri Netherlands Ajax
2013 Belgium Nabil Jaadi Belgium Anderlecht
2012 Netherlands Queensy Menig Netherlands Ajax
2011 Belgium Dennis Praet Belgium Anderlecht
2010 Netherlands Davy Klaassen Netherlands Ajax

Every year the prize adidas Top Scorer of AEGON Future Cup is awarded to the top-scorer of the tournament. Below is a list of the top-scorers for each year:

Year Topscorer Club Goals
2014 England Oluwaseyi Ojo
Wales Harry Wilson
England Liverpool 4
2013 Czech Republic Václav Černý
Democratic Republic of the Congo Aaron Leya Iseka
Netherlands Ajax
Belgium Anderlecht
3
2012 Netherlands Elton Acolatse
Brazil Ademir
Italy Marco Pinato
Turkey Alperen Doğan
Netherlands Ajax
Brazil Desportivo
Italy Milan
Turkey Beşiktaş JK
3
2011 South Africa Nicholas Pasifakis
United States Patrick Foss
South Africa Ajax Cape Town
United States D.C. United
4
2010 Germany Dominik Goßner Germany Bayern München 6

Statistics

Appearances and best results

Statistics accurate as of ABN AMRO Future Cup 2016.

Nr. Club Apps First App. Best result
1. Netherlands Ajax 7 2010 Winners
Belgium Anderlecht 6 2010
England Arsenal 1 2016
2. China China U-17 2 2010 Runners-up
England Liverpool 2 2010
England Manchester United 1 2012
3. Spain Barcelona 4 2010 Third place
Germany Bayern München 4 2010
Italy Milan 3 2010
Portugal Benfica 3 2013
Portugal Porto 1 2015
4. Brazil Fluminense 1 2011 Fourth place
Brazil São Paulo 1 2013
Italy Juventus 1 2015
5. Scotland Celtic 3 2011 Fifth place
South Africa Ajax Cape Town 2 2011
Brazil Desportivo 1 2012
6. United States D.C. United 1 2011 Sixth place
Canada Toronto FC 1 2013
Turkey Galatasaray 1 2015
Ghana Right to Dream 1 2016
7. Turkey Beşiktaş JK 1 2012 Seventh place
England Tottenham Hotspur 1 2013
Brazil Corinthians 1 2014
Germany Schalke 04 1 2015
Austria Red Bull Salzburg 1 2016
8. United States FC Dallas 1 2010 Eighth place
Turkey Fenerbahçe 1 2014
Greece Olympiacos 1 2016

All-time cup winners

CupsClubIn:
3 Netherlands Ajax 2010, 2012, 2014
3 Belgium Anderlecht 2011, 2013, 2015
1 England Arsenal 2016

All-time top-scorers

Statistics accurate as of AEGON Future Cup 2014.

Nr. Player Nationality Goals Club
1. Dominik Goßner  Germany 6 Bayern München
2. Nicholas Pasifakis  South Africa 4 Ajax Cape Town
Patrick Foss  United States 4 D.C. United
Oluwaseyi Ojo  England 4 Liverpool
Harry Wilson  Wales 4 Liverpool
6. Václav Černý  Czech Republic 3 Ajax
Aron Leya Iseka  Democratic Republic of the Congo 3 Anderlecht
Elton Acolatse  Netherlands 3 Ajax
Ademir  Brazil 3 Desportivo
Marco Pinato  Italy 3 Milan
Alperen Doğan  Turkey 3 Beşiktaş JK

See also

References

  1. "Anderlecht winaar AEGON Future Cup". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  2. "Paasweekend in teken van de AEGON Future Cup". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  3. "Leren staat centraal bij AEGON Future Cup". Parool.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  4. "Ajax introduceert ABN AMRO Future Cup". AjaxShowtime. Retrieved 2014-11-20.
  5. "AEGON Future Cup geopend". Ajax.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  6. "AEGON Future Cup wereldwijd op TV". Ajax.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  7. "2014 World Cup: Is Belgium football's coming force?". CNN. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  8. "FC Dallas Juniors Playing in AEGON Future Cup". ESPN. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  9. "AEGON Future Cup: Ajax & Bayern München". Ajax.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  10. "Ajax Cape Town Finish Fifth At Future Cup". Soccer Laduma. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  11. "Responsabilidade Social no Esporte". Craques Mongeral Aegon. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  12. "Wim Jonk opent AEGON Future Cup". Ajax.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  13. "Ajax B1 na drie zeges groepswinnaar op Future Cup". Ajaxlife. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  14. "Aegon Future Cup Wrap Up". TorontoFC.ca. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  15. "AEGON Future Cup: Uitslag van Poulefase". Ajax1.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  16. "Anderlecht defeat Ajax to clinch Aegon Future Cup". Goal.com. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  17. "Young Reds through to final". manutd.com. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  18. "AEGON Future Cup mooi meetmoment". Ajax.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  19. "Uitslagen AEGON Future Cup". AEGON - Hoofdsponsor van Ajax. Retrieved 2013-11-03.
  20. "Klaassen uitgeroepen tot beste speler". Ajax.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-03.

External links

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