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The Amsterdam Tournament is one of the oldest pre-season friendly tournaments to be in Europe. Some of the biggest clubs in world football have taken part in the tournament, which is organized by the International Event Partnership (IEP).

The current Amsterdam Tournament is the successor of the hugely popular Amsterdam 700 tournament that was started in 1975 in order to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the Amsterdam City.

The tournament was an annual event played at the Amsterdam Arena with four clubs taking part, one of which was always the host. The first tournament was played out among RWD Molenbeek, Ajax, Feyenoord and Barcelona, with Molenbeek lifting the trophy.

Since then a number of big clubs across the globe, including Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Valencia, Manchester United and Internazionale have taken part in the tournament.

The tournament was suspended during 1992 to 1999, when IEP stepped in and offered to organize the tournament each year. Ajax is the most successful team to have played in the competition, winning it six times in 17 appearances.

The tournament comprises of four matches, with each team playing at least two matches. The tournament is known for an unusual and unique format of awarding points to the teams. While each team is awarded three points for a victory and one point for a draw, the teams are also awarded one bonus point for each goal scored in the match. Tournament organizers believe that this mode of points system will encourage more attacking football from teams.

This season's tournament includes some of the biggest names of European football. IEP has announced that 2005 edition winners, Arsenal will once again be taking part in the tournament along with Lazio, Atletico Madrid and Ajax.

The matches will be played on August 2 and August 4, with August 3 as a rest day. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will be looking at the quality available at his club, with Thierry Henry's departure meaning that the striker slot in the formation is up for grabs. Wenger will also be hoping that his young team has come of age as he attempts to provide an improved competition for Chelsea and Arsenal, along with Liverpool, for the English Premier League title.

Atletico Madrid will be making its first appearance in the competition since the 1999 edition. Atletico will be looking to settle down the team around new striker Diego Forlan, who has been brought as a replacement for Fernando Torres, who was sold to Liverpool.

Having qualified to the UEFA Champions League for this season, Lazio will be looking to repeat its good run of form in the Italian Seria A from last season, when it finished third.

The schedule for the tournament is as follows:

Thursday 2 August 2007

Saturday 4 August 2007