World soccer stars hit Melbourne for International Champions Cup
THE best of the best in world soccer will converge on the Melbourne Cricket Ground later this week for the International Champions Cup. Here’s what you need to know.
THE best of the best in world soccer will converge on the Melbourne Cricket Ground later this week for the International Champions Cup. Here’s what you need to know.
THE GAMES
■ GAME 1
Melbourne Victory v Juventus
MCG
Saturday, July 23, 7pm
TAB odds: Victory $8, draw $5.75, Juve $1.25
■ GAME 2
Juventus v Tottenham Hotspur
MCG
Tuesday, July 26, 8pm
TAB odds: Juve $2.35, draw $3.25, Spurs $2.70
■ GAME 3
Tottenham v Atletico de Madrid
MCG
Friday, July 29, 8pm
TAB odds: Spurs $2.60, draw $3.25, Atletico $2.40
■ GEELONG TOUR MATCH
Atletico de Madrid v Melbourne Victory
Simonds Stadium, Geelong
Sunday, July 31, 2pm
TV: LIVE on Fox Sports
TAB odds: Atletico $1.25, draw $5.50, Victory $8
■ TICKETS: All games, Ticketek
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RELATED: Christian Erikssen believes manager Maurucio Pochettino can lead Tottenham to title
RELATED: Atletico Madrid captain Gabi credits recent success with ‘team first’ values
RELATED: Melbourne Victory youngster Stefan Nigro jumps from park footy to MCG
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THE TEAMS
■ JUVENTUS (Ita)
Founded: 1897
Home ground: Juventus Stadium (cap. 41,475)
TITLES
UEFA Champions League: 2
Europa League: 3
Serie A: 32
Coppa Italia: 11
MOST APPEARANCES
705 Alessandro Del Piero
MOST GOALS
290 Alessandro Del Piero
LAST SEASON
Serie A: Won
Coppa Italia: Won
Champions League: Rd16
■ TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (Eng)
Founded: 1882
Home ground: White Hart Lane (cap. 36,284)
TITLES
Europa League: 2
English Premiership: 2
FA Cup: 8
League Cup: 4
MOST APPEARANCES
854 Steve Perryman
MOST GOALS
266 Jimmy Greaves
LAST SEASON
EPL: 3rd
FA Cup: 5th
League Cup: 3rd
Europa League: Rd16
■ ATLETICO DE MADRID (Esp)
Founded: 1903
Home ground: Vicente Calderon Stadium (cap. 54,960)
TITLES
Europa League: 2
La Liga: 10
Copa del Rey: 10
MOST APPEARANCES
551 Adelardo
MOST GOALS
173 Luis Aragones
LAST SEASON
La Liga: 3rd
Copa del Rey: QF
Champions League: RU
■ MELBOURNE VICTORY (Aus)
Founded: 2004
Home grounds: Etihad Stadium (cap. 56,000) and AAMI Park (cap. 30,050)
TITLES
A-League: 3
FFA Cup: 1
MOST APPEARANCES
261 Archie Thompson
MOST GOALS
97 Archie Thompson
LAST SEASON
A-League: EF
FFA Cup: Won
Asian Champions League: Rd16
THE STARS
MIRALEM PJANCIC (Juve)
The outrageously talented Bosnian midfielder will play for Juventus for the first time in Melbourne. Knows the MCG well having played for Roma in last year’s ICC event.
Also: Dani Alves, Mario Mandzukic, Hernanes.
HARRY KANE (Spurs)
The poster boy of English football. The 22-year-old has lit up the Premier League for Spurs in the last two seasons, scoring 49 goals and attracting interest from the world’s biggest clubs.
Also: Eric Dier, Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen.
FERNANDO TORRES (Atletico)
A World Cup and two-time Euro winner with Spain, Torres was a star of English football with Liverpool from 2007-11 and now finds himself back where his professional career started in 2001.
Also: Koke, Diego Godin, Filipe Luis.
BESART BERISHA (Victory)
Broke the Victory record for most goals scored in a season last campaign and, having re-signed for another two years, also has the A-League’s all-time leading goalscorer mark in his sights.
Also: Carl Valeri, Ollie Bozanic, Jason Geria.
THE COACHES
MASSIMILIANO ALLEGRI (Juve)
A talented midfielder in his own right during his playing days, Allegri came to Juventus in 2014 after four years at AC Milan and has already won two Serie A and two Coppa Italia titles.
MAURICIO POCHETTINO (Spurs)
After working wonders at Southampton in 2013-14, the Argentine was poached by Spurs and has gone on to build a squad that has become a genuine EPL title contender.
DIEGO SIMEONE (Atletico)
One of the world’s most charismatic managers, Simeone has been integral to Atletico’s ability to challenge the Spanish monopoly of Real Madrid and Barcelona in recent years.
KEVIN MUSCAT (Victory)
One of Victory’s all-time great players is now in to his third full season as the club’s manager having already won an A-League and FFA Cup title.
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Open training sessions at AAMI Park
July 25, 5:30pm-6:30pm - Juventus
July 25, 6:30pm-7:30pm - Tottenham
LAST YEAR
Roma 0 Real Madrid 0 (Roma won 7-6 on penalties), MCG. Crowd: 80,746
Manchester City 2 Roma 2 (City won 5-4 on penalties), MCG. Crowd: 43,134
Real Madrid 4 Manchester City 1, MCG. Crowd: 99,382
Originally published as World soccer stars hit Melbourne for International Champions Cup
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