The 2013 Emirates Cup was a pre-season
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
friendly tournament hosted by
Arsenal at its home ground, the
Emirates Stadium in London. It was the sixth
Emirates Cup
The Emirates Cup is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal at their home ground, Emirates Stadium, in Highbury, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007 and is named after Arsena ...
, an invitational competition inaugurated in 2007. Held on the weekend of 3–4 August 2013, the participants were Arsenal,
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
,
Napoli
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, and
Galatasaray
Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...
. The 2013 edition marked the resumption of the Emirates Cup as the tournament took a hiatus in 2012 due to the
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
.
The competition followed a point scoring system much like the
Amsterdam Tournament
The Amsterdam Tournament ( nl, Amsterdam Toernooi) was a pre-season association football competition, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The competition was hosted by Eredivisie club Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. It was inaugurated in 1975 as the A ...
, whereby each team played two matches, with three points awarded for a win, one point for a draw and none for a loss. It also reverted to system whereby each goal was awarded with a point. Arsenal did not face Porto, and Napoli did not play against Galatasaray.
The first day saw Galatasaray defeat Porto by a single goal, while Arsenal came from two goals down to draw against Napoli.
Didier Drogba scored twice for Galatasaray against Arsenal to ensure the Turkish club won the tournament. Porto beat Napoli 3–1 to finish second, on six points.
Background
In March 2007 Arsenal announced their intention to stage a pre-season competition at their home ground, the
Emirates Stadium. Managing director
Keith Edelman
Keith Edelman (born June 1950) is an English businessman. He was managing director of Arsenal Football Club between 2000 and 2008.
Biography
Business
Keith Edelman graduated from UMIST in 1971 with a BSc (Hons) in management sciences. He then ...
revealed plans were at an exploratory stage, and added: "It would be in pre-season, around late July, and tickets would be reasonably priced. We feel it could be a really exciting event." The tournament went ahead four months later and is named after Arsenal's main sponsor
Emirates
Emirates may refer to:
* United Arab Emirates, a Middle Eastern country
* Emirate, any territory ruled by an emir
** Gulf emirates, emirates located on the Persian Gulf
** Emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the individual emirates
* The Emirat ...
.
After a break in 2012 due to the
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
, Arsenal confirmed the return of the Emirates Cup in May 2013.
Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...
champions
Galatasaray
Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...
, Italian side
Napoli
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and Portuguese club
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
were revealed as participants for the 2013 edition, alongside hosts Arsenal.
Arsenal chief executive
Ivan Gazidis
Ivan Gazidis (born 13 September 1964) is the Executive of Italian Serie A club AC Milan.
Biography
Gazidis is of Greek origin, but was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. At the age of 4 moved to Manchester in the United Kingdom and attended ind ...
said in a statement, "We are welcoming three high-quality sides to this year’s competition again and I’m sure we’ll see some great football played over the two days."
Summary
![Rafa Benitez 2013](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Rafa_Benitez_2013.jpg)
Porto faced Galatasaray on the first day of the tournament. The only goal of the game was scored by Galatasaray's
Felipe Melo
Felipe Melo de Carvalho (born 26 June 1983), known as Felipe Melo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Fluminense.
He began his career with Campeonato Brasileiro Série A teams Flamengo, Cruzeiro a ...
, who converted a penalty in the second half.
Porto began sprightly, but struggled to make their possession count.
They were awarded a penalty in the 19th minute but
Jackson Martínez
Jackson Arley Martínez Valencia (; born 3 October 1986) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a striker.
He started his career with Independiente Medellin in 2004 and becoming the league's top scorer in 2009, before be ...
saw his effort saved by goalkeeper
Fernando Muslera
Néstor Fernando Muslera Micol (; born 16 June 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Turkish club Galatasaray, whom he captains, and the Uruguay national team.
He is considered one of the finest goalkeepers ...
. As the match went on Galatasaray started to dominate;
Didier Drogba and
Wesley Sneijder
Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch retired professional footballer. Due to his elite playmaking ability, Sneijder was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime.
A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, he st ...
linked up well and provided the team’s biggest threat up front.
After taking the lead via a penalty won by former Arsenal defender
Emmanuel Eboué
Emmanuel Eboué (born 4 June 1983) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a right back.
Formed at ASEC Mimosas, he moved to Europe to play for Belgium's Beveren in 2002. He spent most of his career, from 2005 to 2011, with A ...
, Galatasaray once more conceded a penalty. Up stepped Porto’s captain
Lucho González
Luis Óscar "Lucho" González (; born 19 January 1981) is an Argentine former professional footballer, currently a manager. A versatile midfielder who was able to play in different positions but mainly in the centre, he was well known for his f ...
, but he hit his penalty wide.
The score ended 1–0 in Galatasaray's favour; the club's manager
Fatih Terim
Fatih Terim (born 4 September 1953) is a Turkish association football manager and former player. He is the former manager of Galatasaray, a position he previously held four times.
Terim has managed several clubs in Italy (Milan and Fiorentina) ...
said afterwards: “Our play wasn't very satisfactory but in the second half we pressed more and we performed better.”
Arsenal played Napoli in the day's late game. In the match, the hosts came back from two goals down in the space of 14 minutes to draw 2–2.
Napoli were sharp in the first half, leading through
Lorenzo Insigne
Lorenzo Insigne (; born 4 June 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the Italy national team.
Insigne began his professional career with čelik Niksic in 2009, making his ...
's goal and doubled their advantage after Pandev went around goalkeeper
Łukasz Fabiański
Łukasz Marek Fabiański (born 18 April 1985) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club West Ham United. He also played for the Poland national team, until his retirement in 2021.
Having begun his career at Legi ...
to score. Arsenal's poor performance resulted in the home support booing the team off at half time.
Arsenal played with purpose thereafter, and got back into the game when
Olivier Giroud
Olivier Jonathan Giroud (born 30 September 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the France national team. Regarded for his work-rate, strength, acrobatic strikes, shot power, consistent goal-s ...
's overhead kick found its way into the Napoli goal.
Laurent Koscielny
Laurent Koscielny (born 10 September 1985) is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre back.
Born in Tulle, Koscielny began his football career playing for a host of youth clubs before moving to Guingamp in 2003, where he q ...
equalised for Arsenal with four minutes of normal time remaining. In an assessment of Arsenal's performance, ''
The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
s match reporter Simon Burton noted the hosts "worked the ball nicely through midfield but ran out of ideas at the edge of the penalty area."
Napoli took on Porto on the second day of the Emirates Cup. The Italian club led towards the end of the first half as
Goran Pandev
Goran Pandev ( mk, Горан Пандев, ; born 27 July 1983) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
After establishing himself at Lazio, Pandev moved to Inter Milan in early 2010. While playing for the ''Ne ...
scored from the penalty spot.
Porto responded after the break with three goals; the first came in the 50th minute when
Nabil Ghilas
Nabil Ghilas (born 20 April 1990) is a professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for Athlético Marseille. Internationally, he represented the Algeria national team.
Club career Early years and Moreirense
Born in Marseille, ...
' strike beat
Pepe Reina
José Manuel "Pepe" Reina Páez (; born 31 August 1982) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Villarreal.
The son of famed Barcelona and Atlético Madrid goalkeeper Miguel Reina, Pepe Reina began his ...
in goal.
Napoli's
Federico Fernández scored an own goal and substitute
Licá sealed a 3–1 win for the Portuguese side after
Andrea Dossena
Andrea Dossena (; born 11 September 1981) is an Italian football coach and former player who played as a left winger or left back. He is the head coach of Renate.
Dossena started his professional career at Verona in 2001, having progressed thro ...
made an error in his penalty box.
The final game of the tournament was Arsenal versus Galatasaray. It was the first meeting between the two clubs since the
2000 UEFA Cup Final which Galatasaray won on penalties.
Yaya Sanogo played up front for Arsenal, while Drogba started on the bench for Galatasaray.
Theo Walcott
Theo James Walcott (born 16 March 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Southampton and previously for the English national team.
Walcott is a product of the Southampton Academy and started his career with ...
, who missed a chance in the 18th minute, gave Arsenal the lead five minutes before the break.
A tangle between Drogba and
Ignasi Miquel
Ignasi Miquel Pons (born 28 September 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Granada CF. Mainly a centre-back, he can also be utilized at left-back.
Miquel is a Spanish youth international and has played for the under-21 te ...
in the Arsenal penalty box resulted in the referee awarding Galatasaray a penalty in the 78th minute.
Arsenal manager
Arsène Wenger
Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (; born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Developme ...
described the penalty as a "classic Drogba," and the player duly converted his spot kick.
Drogba scored his second of the match late on to win the Emirates Cup for Galatasaray; he controlled a long ball from Sneijder, before cutting inside and shooting past
Wojciech Szczęsny
Wojciech Tomasz Szczęsny (; born 18 April 1990) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Juventus and the Poland national team.
After starting his club career at Legia Warsaw, Szczęsny signed for Arsenal in Jan ...
.
It was Drogba's 15th goal against Arsenal in 15 matches.
Standings
Each team played two matches, with three points awarded for a win, one point for a draw, and a point for every goal scored. In addition, shots on target were taken into account and were used to decide the tournament winners if teams were level on points and goal difference.
Matches
----
----
----
Goalscorers
References
Specific
General
*
{{Friendly tournaments 2013
Emirates Cup
Emirates Cup
The Emirates Cup is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal at their home ground, Emirates Stadium, in Highbury, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007 and is named after Arsena ...
Emirates Cup
The Emirates Cup is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal at their home ground, Emirates Stadium, in Highbury, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007 and is named after Arsena ...
Emirates Cup
The Emirates Cup is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal at their home ground, Emirates Stadium, in Highbury, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007 and is named after Arsena ...
Emirates Cup
The Emirates Cup is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal at their home ground, Emirates Stadium, in Highbury, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007 and is named after Arsena ...
Emirates Cup
The Emirates Cup is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal at their home ground, Emirates Stadium, in Highbury, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007 and is named after Arsena ...
Emirates Cup
The Emirates Cup is a pre-season association football invitational competition hosted by English club Arsenal at their home ground, Emirates Stadium, in Highbury, London. The two-day competition was inaugurated in 2007 and is named after Arsena ...