Copa Amsterdam

Copa Amsterdam
Founded 2005
Region Worldwide
Number of teams 8
Current champions Anderlecht (1st title)
Most successful club(s) Cruzeiro (3 titles)
Television broadcasters Eredivisie Live
Eurosport
Fox Sports
2015 Copa Amsterdam

The Copa Amsterdam (known for sponsorship reasons as the Aegon Copa Amsterdam), formerly known as the Gestion Copa Amsterdam, is an annual youth football tournament, organized and hosted by AFC Ajax for under-19 youth teams which takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam.[1] The tournament has been contested by some of the strongest under-19 teams in football, with FC Barcelona, Chelsea and Cruzeiro amongst the participating clubs.[2] The tournament is named after its main sponsor, the insurance company AEGON and was formerly named after the publishing company Gestion, and is broadcast online in over 59 countries via Eredivisie Live, Eurosport and Fox Sports.[3][4]

History

Established in 2005 as part of the annual Amsterdam Sport Weekend, a citywide sponsored initiative to promote 'sports and recreation' within the city of Amsterdam, the Copa Amsterdam is an international football youth tournament held in the historic Olympic Stadium since 2010.[5] It was originally held at Sportpark Sloten, home of Blauw-Wit Amsterdam from its inception in 2005 up until 2009. Each summer the city of Amsterdam and AFC Ajax invites U-19 teams from various top clubs from around the World to play in the tournament. Seven teams are invited and participate in the competition every year with the ninth edition of the tournament having occurred in 2013. Over the years, clubs such as Barcelona, Juventus, Olympique de Marseille, Real Madrid have had their senior youth teams participate in the tournament.[6]

While hosts Ajax have won the tournament twice (2007, 2011), Cruzeiro from Brazil have won it the most, holding a total of three titles to their name (2006, 2008, 2012). Other teams who have brought home the cup include Panathinaikos (2005), AZ (2009), Chelsea (2010) and Ajax Cape Town (2013).[7] The prizes and awards were handed out by Johan Cruijff in 2009 and 2011, in 2010 it was done by Daley Blind and by Sjaak Swart two years later. Since the 2011 edition, the tournament has been broadcast live on Eredivisie Live on Dutch national television and over the internet with commentary by Leo Driessen, Mark van Rijswijk and Ron de Rijk.[8][9]

The tournament is attended by prominent local football legends such as Frits Barend, Johan Cruijff and Danny Blind, and is frequented by many talent scouts. In accordance with the theme of the annual Amsterdam Sport Weekend however, an amateur team is put together consisting of local youth players, which is then coached by former Ajax players such as Ronald de Boer did with Men United in the 9th Edition of the tournament.[10] In order to promote sport and recreation in the community, and to give young players an opportunity to present themselves at a high competitive level, coming from Amsterdam and the Region. Other teams that were assembled include the AT5 United, an all-star team composed of local Amsterdam talent, as well as FC NH (Noord Holland) which was an assembled selection of youth talent from the Dutch province of Noord Holland as a whole, and not limited to Amsterdam.[11]

Board of Advisors

The Board of Advisors for the tournament consists of seven members, namely John Jaakke, Theo van Duivenbode, Jaap de Groot, René Zegerius, Oege Boonstra, Ronald de Boer and Maarten Oldenhof.[12]

Tournament results

2005 (1st Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. Greece Panathinaikos (1st title)
2. Netherlands Ajax
3. Czech Republic Sparta Prague
4. Spain Barcelona
5. Brazil Cruzeiro
6. Scotland Rangers
7. Belgium Anderlecht
8. Netherlands AT5 United (Selection of Amsterdam's top amateurs)

2006 (2nd Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. Brazil Cruzeiro (1st title)
2. Portugal Sporting CP
3. Netherlands Ajax
4. Turkey Galatasaray
5. Netherlands AT5 United (Selection of Amsterdam's top amateurs)
6. Spain Espanyol
7. Greece Olympiacos
8. Turkey Fenerbahçe

2007 (3rd Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. Netherlands Ajax (1st title)
2. Germany Werder Bremen
3. South Africa Ajax Cape Town
4. Brazil Cruzeiro
5. Netherlands FC NH (Selection of North Holland's top amateurs)
6. Turkey Fenerbahçe
7. United States Florida Soccer Alliance
8. Scotland Rangers

2008 (4th Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. Brazil Cruzeiro (2nd title)
2. Netherlands Ajax
3. Spain Valencia
4. Brazil Atlético Mineiro
5. Netherlands FC NH (Selection of North Holland's top amateurs)
6. South Africa Ajax Cape Town
7. Netherlands AZ
8. Italy Juventus

2009 (5th Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. Netherlands AZ (1st title)
2. Netherlands Ajax
3. Norway Rosenborg
4. Mexico Guadalajara
5. Spain Real Madrid
6. England Chelsea
7. England Watford
8. Netherlands FC NH (Selection of North Holland's top amateurs)

2010 (6th Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. England Chelsea (1st title)
2. Spain Sevilla
3. Netherlands AZ
4. Netherlands Ajax
5. Brazil Fluminense
6. Mexico Guadalajara
7. Netherlands FC NH (Selection of North Holland's top amateurs)
8. Brazil Botafogo

2011 (7th Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. Netherlands Ajax (2nd title)
2. Brazil Botafogo
3. England Tottenham Hotspur
4. Slovakia AS Trenčín
5. Belgium Anderlecht
6. Germany Borussia Dortmund
7. Brazil Cruzeiro
8. France Olympique de Marseille

2012 (8th Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. Brazil Cruzeiro (3rd title)
2. Brazil Botafogo
3. Netherlands Ajax
4. South Africa Ajax Cape Town
5. China China national under-19 team
6. Turkey Beşiktaş JK
7. Netherlands AZ
8. Greece Panathinaikos

2013 (9th Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. South Africa Ajax Cape Town (1st title)
2. Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach
3. Brazil Cruzeiro
4. Brazil Fluminense
5. England Tottenham Hotspur
6. Netherlands Ajax
7. Ghana Berekum Chelsea
8. Netherlands Men United (Talent team coached by Ronald de Boer)

2014 (10th Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. Brazil Fluminense (1st title)
2. Brazil Cruzeiro
3. China Dalian Aerbin
4. South Africa Ajax Cape Town
5. Netherlands Men United (Talent team coached by Ronald de Boer)
6. Netherlands Ajax
7. Greece Panathinaikos
8. Germany Hamburger SV

2015 (11th Edition)

(Source)[13]

Final placement

Nr. Team
1. Belgium Anderlecht (1st title)
2. Netherlands Ajax
3. Netherlands Vitesse
4. Paraguay Club Guaraní
5. Turkey Beşiktaş JK
6. England Arsenal
7. Slovakia AS Trenčín
8. Norway Rosenborg

Participation

By country

Rank Country Berths Teams
1  Netherlands 24 Ajax (11), AZ (4), FC NH (4), AT5 United (2), Men United (2), Vitesse (1)
2  Brazil 14 Cruzeiro (7), Botafogo (3), Fluminense (3), Atlético Mineiro (1)
3  England 6 Chelsea (2), Tottenham Hotspur (2), Watford (1), Arsenal (1)
4  Spain 5 Barcelona (1), Espanyol (1), Real Madrid (1), Sevilla (1), Valencia (1)
 South Africa 5 Ajax Cape Town (5)
 Turkey 5 Beşiktaş JK (2), Fenerbahçe (2), Galatasaray (1)
5  Germany 4 Borussia Dortmund (1), Borussia Mönchengladbach (1), Hamburger SV (1), Werder Bremen (1)
 Greece 4 Panathinaikos (3), Olympiacos (1)
6  Belgium 3 Anderlecht (3)
7  China 2 China U-19 (1), Dalian Aerbin (1)
 Mexico 2 Guadalajara (2)
 Norway 2 Rosenborg (2)
 Scotland 2 Rangers (2)
 Slovakia 2 AS Trenčín (2)
8
 Czech Republic 1 Sparta Prague (1)
 France 1 Olympique de Marseille (1)
 Ghana 1 Berekum Chelsea (1)
 Italy 1 Juventus (1)
 Paraguay 1 Club Guaraní (1)
 Portugal 1 Sporting CP (1)
 United States 1 Florida Soccer Alliance (1)

Titles and awards

Number of titles

(Source)[13]

Nr. Club Titles Winning Years
1 Brazil Cruzeiro 3 2006, 2008, 2012
2 Netherlands Ajax 2 2007, 2011
3 Greece Panathinaikos 1 2005
Netherlands AZ 1 2009
England Chelsea 1 2010
South Africa Ajax Cape Town 1 2013
Brazil Fluminense 1 2014
Belgium Anderlecht 1 2015

Official Hall of Fame

(Source)[13] The players below are part of the Copa Amsterdam Hall of Fame.[14]

2005

2006

2007

2007 (continued)

2008

2009

2011

2011 (continued)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "New Copa Stars shine in Amsterdam". Foetbal247. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  2. ↑ "AEGON Cope Amsterdam Informatie". copa-amsterdam.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  3. ↑ "Uitzending 28 May 2011". RTVNH.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  4. ↑ "Van Hanegem: "Uit spelen tegen FOX-tv"". Ajax1.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  5. ↑ "Amsterdam Sport Weekend". I Amsterdam. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  6. ↑ "Copa Amsterdam". I Amsterdam. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  7. ↑ "Ajax clinch Aegon Copa title". SuperSport. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  8. ↑ "Aegon Copa Amsterdam". SportsGen. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  9. ↑ "Young Academy perform well at Copa Amsterdam". Tottenham Hotspur. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  10. ↑ "Men United: Ronald de Boer vraagt jou". Olde Veste. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  11. ↑ "Ajax wint Copa, FC NH wordt vijfde". RTV NH. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  12. ↑ "Copa Amsterdam - Advisory Board". Copa-amsterdam.nl. Retrieved 5 August 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Helden en Winnaars". Copa-amsterdam.nl. Retrieved 2013-11-23.
  14. ↑ "Hall of Fame" (in Dutch). Copa Amsterdam. 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.

External links

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