2009 Emirates Cup
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|
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Host country | England |
| Dates | 1–2 August |
| Teams | 4 (from 1 confederation) |
| Venue(s) | 1 (in 1 host city) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Arsenal (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Rangers |
| Third place | Atlético Madrid |
| Fourth place | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 4 |
| Goals scored | 9 (2.25 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |
Andrey Arshavin Jack Wilshere (2 goals) |
The 2009 Emirates Cup was a pre-season football friendly tournament hosted by Arsenal at its home ground, the Emirates Stadium. It was the third Emirates Cup, an invitational competition inaugurated in 2007. Held on the weekend of 1–2 August 2009, the participants were Arsenal, Atlético Madrid, Rangers, and Paris Saint-Germain.
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 Paris Saint-Germain, and Rangers did not play against Atlético Madrid. On the first day of the tournament, Rangers beat Paris Saint-Germain by a single goal, while Arsenal defeated Atlético 2–1. On day two, Paris Saint-Germain and Atlético Madrid played out a draw and Arsenal convincingly won 3–0 against Rangers, regaining the competition's trophy in the process. Midfielder Jack Wilshere was voted man of the match in both of Arsenal's matches, while Andrey Arshavin received the Emirates Player of the Tournament award.
The Emirates Cup was inaugurated in July 2007 after Arsenal finalised plans to stage a pre-season competition at its home ground. The competition is named after Arsenal's main sponsor Emirates; the airline's association with the football club began in 2004. Arsenal won the first tournament, which was attended by over 110,000 people across the two days. The 2009 edition was televised live in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports.
The opening match of the tournament saw Scottish champions Rangers taking on French side Paris Saint-Germain. Rangers manager Walter Smith set his team up in a 4–1–4–1 formation, with a four-man defence, Lee McCulloch in front of a four-man midfield and Kenny Miller playing as the lone striker. Paris Saint-Germain's first eleven included former Chelsea midfielder Claude Makélélé, who shielded their defence. Before kick-off, a minute's applause was held in tribute to former manager Sir Bobby Robson who died on 31 July. Neither Rangers or Paris Saint-Germain scored in the first half but the game was not incident free – Miller's attempt on goal in the early minutes was wide, and he nearly made goalkeeper Grégory Coupet pay for leaving his goal line moments later when his cross almost looped into the net.Mevlüt Erdinç had Paris Saint-Germain's best chance after 30 minutes, but failed to connect to Jean-Eudes Maurice's cross. The winning goal, scored by Rangers, came after the interval; from a corner, defender Madjid Bougherra rose highest and headed the ball past Coupet.
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