Ajax to play Liverpool, Inter in Amsterdam Tournament 2003

10 May: Ajax's opponents for the fifth edition of the prestigious Amsterdam Tournament, the traditional apotheosis of the pre-season campaign, are Liverpool FC (01 August) and Internazionale (03 August). The fourth participant is Galatasaray, the yellow and red top side from Istanbul, Turkey.

The Amsterdam Tournament is organized at the Amsterdam ArenA by The International Event Parnership (IEP). The fifth edition, however, will see a slight change of the tournament's name: IEP signed a sponsoring agreement with eletronics giant Sony. The official new name of the tournament is the Sony Amsterdam Tournament.

It is not the first time for Liverpool FC to participate: Ajax played 'the Reds' on the 2001 edition. The Amsterdammers won both the game (3-1) and the tournament. Ajax also knows the qualities of its second opponent: Internazionale. The Nerazzurri from Milan, Italy, were in the same first round group as Ajax in this season's edition of the Champions League. Internazionale was the only European team to beat Ajax twice: 1-0 in Milan and 1-2 in Amsterdam.

The schedule for the Sony Amsterdam Tournament 2003 in full:

Friday 01 August

19:00 CET: Galatasaray vs Internazionale
21:15 CET: Ajax vs Liverpool FC

Sunday 03 August

18:30 CET: Galatasaray vs Liverpool FC
20:45 CET: Ajax vs Internazionale

The Amsterdam Tournament games were not the only friendlies added to Ajax's agenda this week. Ajax also announced a post-season trip to sunny Morocco at season's end, the highlight of which will be a friendly against Moroccan side Raja de Casablanca, or officially 'Le Raja Club Athlétic de Casablanca', on Wednesday 04 June, at 20:00 local time.

Finally, an extra game was added to Ajax's pre-season campaign for the 2003-2004 season, which was published by Ajax USA on 26 April. This week a visit to Ajax's First Division 'sister club', FC Haarlem, was added to the agenda for Wednesday 06 August (kick-off time t.b.c.). Ajax also played FC Haarlem during its preparation campaign for the current season. It seems to be the start of a new tradition.

Ajax USA will publish the matches index page for the 2003-2004 season, inclusing all pre-season fixtures, once the KNVB has announced the Eredivisie schedule for the new season. (MP)

(Source: Ajax.nl)