Arsenal, Boca Juniors to play Ajax at Amsterdam Tournament
02 May: The International Event Partnership (IEP) have
announced the participants for this summer's edition of
the Amsterdam Tournament at the Amsterdam ArenA. Hosts Ajax
will be up against tournament regulars Arsenal on
Friday 29 July and Argentinian powerhouse Boca Juniors on
Sunday 31 July. The fourth participant, whom Ajax will
not meet in a direct confrontation, are FC Porto,
winners of last season's Champions League.
In October 2004 Ajax was shocked by the unexpected death of
Mr Roger Broomhall, president of IEP and an avid football
fan. He had a special relationship with Ajax. The
Englishman was 64 years old and the man behind the
Amsterdam Tournament. Mr Broomhall's beloved Amsterdam
Tournament will live on: this summer's edition will be the
seventh since 1999.
For Arsenal, runners-up in the English Premiership, it will
be their third visit to the summer tournament at the
Amsterdam ArenA, a number of participations only surpassed by
unofficial hosts Ajax, who were there every time and won
the last four editions of the tournament. FC Porto,
winners of the 2004 Champions League, participate for the first
time and so do Boca Juniors, still going strong in this year's
South-American equivalent of the Champions League, the Copa
Libertadores. The Amsterdam Tournament will take place in
the winter break of the Argentinian league.
One of the things that makes the Amsterdam Tournament is the
unusual point system: teams get one point for a draw and three
for a win, as usual, but also an additional point for
every goal scored. This encourages offensive football and
ensures that all four teams can still win the tournament on day
2.
The matches schedule in full:
Day 1: Friday 29 July 2005
- 19:00 CET: FC Porto vs Boca Juniors
- 21:15 CET: Ajax vs Arsenal FC
Day 2: Sunday 31 July 2005
- 18:30 CET: Arsenal FC vs FC Porto
- 20:45 CET: Ajax - Boca Juniors
Meanwhile, Ajax did not confirm any other pre-season
friendlies as yet. Various regional news sources in The
Netherlands announced friendly fixture of local amateur
clubs against Ajax in recent weeks: according to
sources such as the Twente.nl news portal and the Tourist
Information Centre of the coastal town of Katwijk, Ajax will
play WHC in Wezep on 11 July, Quick '20 in Oldenzaal on the
12th and Rijnsburgse Boys in Rijnsburg on the 16th. None of
these fixtures were confirmed by Ajax so far. Ajax's
Supporters' Desk did reveal, in reply to fan
inquiries, that Ajax will not play any pre-season friendly in
the United Kingdom this summer. (MP)
Source: Ajax.nl, Ajax Supporters' Affairs
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