The Copa del Sol was an annual exhibition international club football tournament played on the south coast of
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
in January–February, one month before the kickoff of the national leagues, that ran from 2010 to 2014.
The tournament was a chance for training and match play for the northern European football teams during their winter break against big names from Eastern European football, particularly Russia and Ukraine. It was co-organized by Swedish IEC in Sports, part of
Lagardère Group
Lagardère S.A. () is an international group with operations in over 40 countries. It is headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The group was created in 1992 as Matra, Hachette & Lagardère. Headed by Arnaud Lagardère, it is focused ...
and Norwegian
Norsk Toppfotball
Norsk Toppfotball (NTF) is an interest organization for the 16 Norwegian Premier League and 16 Adeccoligaen clubs in Norway. The organization was previously known as Serieforeningen av 1972 (SF-72),European Top Teams are Ready for Copa del Sol 2013 - IEC in Sports, News, 7 December 2012 All games were broadcast back to home markets of participating clubs allowing fans to observe the current progress of team preparation for the upcoming season, and were screened live on television in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and pan-Africa.
History
With the inaugural tournament mainly held at
Marbella FC
Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a Spanish football team based in Marbella, the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1997 it currently plays in Tercera Federación – Group 9 (the 5th level of the ...
's 7500-capacity
Estadio Municipal Estadio Municipal (literally 'municipal stadium') is a generic name for municipally-owned, -constructed, or -operated sport stadia in Spanish or Portuguese -speaking countries.
In Angola:
* Estádio Municipal de Benguela, in Benguela
In Argentina ...
, the final game of the 2010 tournament could not be held due to heavy rain. Both of the teams reaching the final,
Shakhtar Donetsk
Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...
and
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...
were declared joint winners.The ball swam perfectly... - website of FC Shakhtar The highest-scoring game in competition history came in its opening year, with
Kalmar
Kalmar (, , ) is a city in the southeast of Sweden, situated by the Baltic Sea. It had 36,392 inhabitants in 2010 and is the seat of Kalmar Municipality. It is also the capital of Kalmar County, which comprises 12 municipalities with a total of ...
beating Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Molde 6–4. Despite being organised as a warm-weather training tournament, fans from across Scandinavia did travel to watch the matches, with some attendances reaching 1,000.
With the tournament moving to La Manga and Elche and expanded to 16 teams,
FC Karpaty Lviv
Football Club Karpaty Lviv ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Lviv.
History Early years (1963–68)
The team of Karpaty was founded on 18 January, 1963. In 1961 Silmash Lviv won the championship of Lviv Oblast but lost its p ...
were the winners of the 2011 tournament. To replace the Copa del Sol in its former host city, the
Marbella Cup
The Marbella Cup ( es, Trofeo Casino Marbella) is an annual friendly association football, football tournament held in Spain during the winter football break. The tournament takes place in Marbella, Andalusia.2012 tournament took place from 28 January to 7 February,Finpusser på Copa del Sol - RBKweb, 13 November 2011 and was won by
Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia:
* FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club
* HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team
* Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club
* WB ...
Strømsgodset IF
Strømsgodset IF is a Norwegian multi-sports club from Gulskogen in Drammen. It has sections for association football, handball and bandy, but is best known for the top-level football section known as Strømsgodset Toppfotball, which plays in Eli ...
of Norway won the last Copa del Sol tournament in 2014, beating
Astra Giurgiu
Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spent th ...
in the final, becoming the first (and last) Scandinavian club to win the competition. Only
AIK
AIK Fotboll (), more commonly known simply as AIK (), an abbreviation for Allmänna Idrottsklubben (meaning ''the public'' or ''general sports club''), is a Swedish football club competing in Allsvenskan, the top flight of Swedish football. The ...
represented Sweden, with
Vestsjælland
West Zealand County ( da, Vestsjællands Amt) is a former county ( Danish: ''amt'') in the west-central part of the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising a few former counties. Th ...
being the lone Danish club attached. No club from Russia or Ukraine competed, and sides from Latvia, Moldova and Angola were brought in. Setanta Africa, who had broadcast the previous four tournaments, did not cover the 2014 edition.
With interest waning, the absence of Champions League and Europa League sides, and with most matches watched by only a handful of spectators at the now-permanent venue of La Manga, the competition was discontinued.
A rival event, the
La Manga Cup
La Manga Cup is a winter football tournament played in La Manga Club, La Manga del Mar Menor (Murcia, Spain). Usual participants are clubs from countries with a summer football season: Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Russia, Ukraine
Uk ...
, ran from 1999 until 2016, but also suffered a similar ultimate fate when many top Scandinavian clubs chose not to take part in what turned out to be its final year.
Results
See also
*Football Impact Cup
*
Marbella Cup
The Marbella Cup ( es, Trofeo Casino Marbella) is an annual friendly association football, football tournament held in Spain during the winter football break. The tournament takes place in Marbella, Andalusia.Costa del Sol Trophy
The Trofeo Costa del Sol (formerly "Trofeo Internacional Costa del Sol") is a football friendly competition, financed by the Spain Football Federation and held in the city of Málaga, organised by both CD Málaga and Málaga City Council.
...