2007 Emirates Cup

2007 Emirates Cup

Tournament details
Host country	England
City	London
Dates	28 – 29 July
Teams	4 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)	1 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions	Arsenal (1st title)
Runners-up	Paris Saint-Germain
Third place	Valencia
Fourth place	Inter Milan
Tournament statistics
Matches played	4
Goals scored	11 (2.75 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Péguy Luyindula (2 goals)
2008 →

The 2007 Emirates Cup was the inaugural pre-season men's association football friendly tournament hosted by Arsenal. It took place at the club's home ground, the Emirates Stadium during the weekend of 28 July and 29 July 2007. The idea of a pre-season competition staged at Arsenal first came about during the 2006–07 season; once planning was complete, the club invited three other European clubs to participate in the event: Inter Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Valencia. The latter club replaced Hamburg as the German side had Intertoto Cup commitments.

The competition follows a point scoring system much like the Amsterdam Tournament, whereby each team plays two matches, with three points awarded for a win, one point for a draw and none for a loss. An additional point is awarded for every goal scored. Arsenal did not face Valencia, and Inter did not play against Paris Saint-Germain. On the first day of the Emirates Cup, Valencia beat Inter Milan by two goals, while Arsenal defeated Paris Saint-Germain 2–1. Valencia's loss to Paris Saint-Germain on day two meant Arsenal needed to beat Inter Milan in order to finish top of the group. They went a goal behind in the second half, but goals from Alexander Hleb and Robin van Persie secured the cup win. The tournament was well attended with over 110,000 filling the Emirates Stadium across the two-day tournament.^[1]