The summer tournaments in danger of extinction: the Bernabéu …

Summer tournaments are not at their best. They have been languishing for years, in favor of great events outside our borders such as the International Champions Cup (ICC) or Asia tours. A situation that has been aggravated this year by the COVID-19 crisis, in which there has hardly been room for the preseason starts in national football. Only the Carranza Trophy (September 15) remains alive in a summer when soccer is less soccer, without player number 12 in the stands. Whatever the reason (the virus and the lack of an audience or what many call 'modern football'), summer tournaments in Spain are not what they used to be.

Gone are the days when the great stars of world football used to walk around the corners of Spain, with the goal festival and the show guaranteed. Few survivors of that remain, with several missing summer trophies such as the Atlético's Villa de Madrid or Villa de Sevilla, among others. And those who survive do so with great difficulty, without the prominence and prestige of yesteryear, as These are the case of the Teresa Herrera Trophy (Sports), the Orange Trophy (Valencia), the City of Palma Trophy (Mallorca) or the Columbian Trophy (Recreativo de Huelva), whose posters will not appear this season because of the pandemic. Neither will the Joan Gamper Trophy or the Barça and Real Madrid Bernabéu Trophy..

Without going any further, figures like Pelé, Di Stefano, Cruyff, Puskas, Zico and Mágico González They paraded in the summer matches of the Carranza Trophy, in which the legendary Pelé, Beckenbauer and Cruyff came to coincide in the same match. This year, the Cadiz tournament changed its format, playing a single match with a Cádiz-Atlético and without an audience. The rojiblanco team will defend its status as leader in the list of the prestigious Andalusian trophy, he has lifted 10 times. Cádiz has 8 titles, while Sevilla and Betis accumulate seven and six, respectively. Another fact to highlight is that in its last edition, the trophy was contested only by women's teams for the first time in its history, with the idea of ​​giving more repercussion to its celebration.

There were also great galas in the Teresa Herrera Trophy, which has not had so much luck and has been suspended by COVID-19. The A Coruña tournament managed to attract great teams such as Santos de Pelé, Madrid by Di Stéfano, Quinta del Buitre or Cristiano Ronaldo, Benfica by Eusebio or Barcelona by Dream Team, among others. In the rest of the tournaments there are some anecdotes that are at least curious. An example of this remains in the 1997 Palma tournament when the Flamengo of Savio he thrashed (0-3) a Real Madrid that reaffirmed its interest in the Brazilian player, who went on to wear white in the next winter market.

The truth is that the summer tournaments had their golden age between the 60s and 80s. Then their dispute went beyond the tuning of a team in preseason, with a great demand from the fans that would now be unthinkable. They were meetings that opened the curtain of the season with the staging of the stars of the best teams of the moment. With a large investment from the organizers, the summer tournaments were for many the great events expected of the summer.

The role of the great event of the summer season has become in recent years the International Champions Cup, which has also succumbed to the coronavirus crisis. And with it, the Real Madrid-Barça Classic that was scheduled to be played this summer in Las Vegas has also fallen. The duel, which was pending to be confirmed by both clubs, will not be able to reissue the 2017 Classic (2-3, in favor of the culé team) that was held in Miami. This cancellation meant a new economic setback for Madrid and Barça, who will stop receiving more than 15 million euros for the suspension of this tournament. The 'mini Champions' in summer has also hosted the famous Real Madrid-Atlético derby, with a 3-7 win for the rojiblanco team, and rises as the last great summer tournament, even though he is now almost bankrupt

He June 2, 1978While the eyes were focused on Argentina and the World Championship that was being held in the Argentine country, a piece of news traveled the entire sports world: Santiago Bernabéu died in Madrid. The greatest president who had raised Madrid to unimaginable heights when he was appointed in 1943. Not in vain, under his presidency, the white team had won six European Cups (he had played two other finals more), one Intercontinental, 16 Leagues, six Cups and two Latin Cups in the football section.

Relieved by Luis de Carlos, it was a compromisario member who asked to pay homage to the great president. De Carlos decided to organize a tournament in which the three best European teams will participate together with Madrid. Thus a quadrangular tournament was set up to honor the exalted president. Invited tol Ajax, Bayern Munich and Milan, that in the summer of 1979 they starred in the first edition of the tournament. The Whites faced Bayern, who defeated them 2-1, while Ajax beat the Italians from the penalty spot. The first edition of the Bernabéu Trophy saw the Germans take the tournament by defeating the Dutch 2-0. The surprise came at the end, when they were presented with a trophy that weighed almost 65 kilos (of silver) and measured two meters. The Bavarian players had trouble getting him to Munich. Later it was discovered that he was half-hidden under a staircase in the offices of the German headquarters.

In 1980, the Germans took the tournament again after defeating the Whites in the final, but more controversial was the 1981 edition: in the match for third and fourth place, the referee, Pes Pérez, expelled Rummenigge. Also to Breitner and the coach, Uli Hoeness. He addressed his teammates and the entire Bayern team retired to the locker room. After a tough negotiation, Bayern officials decided that they would return to the field as long as Rummenigge was allowed to play again or they changed the referee. There was no agreement, and the Germans returned to Munich without charging the stipulated. It was in that edition when the whites achieved their first title. But with a high price to pay: the final was played by the whites with Dinamo Tbilisi, and in one set of the game, Angel, a tough midfielder (like the usual ones in those days) cut off the leg of David Kipiani, an extraordinary Georgian player. The injury truncated the possibility of playing the World Cup in Spain, when he was a fixture for the Russian team. It cost Madrid the refusal of the Russian authorities to give their approval to the signing of Blokhin for the madridistas …

At that time, the trophy was also played by teams of lower categories, almost always the youth. In that 1981, a young Emilio Butragueño began to emerge, and was summoned to participate in the tournament: he would debut with the first team in February 1984. After four years of white rule (beating Standard de Liège and three Germans: COlonia, Hamburg and Bayern (the thorn was removed in a spectacular game), the 1986 edition was surely the most brilliant for the participants: It was contested by Real Madrid (UEFA champions), Steaua de Bucharest (European champions), Dinamo Kiev (Cup Winners' Cup champions) and Anderlecht (Belgian League champions). The Ukrainians won it with a spectacular comeback, a fluid, fast and vertical game that was reminiscent of the final in which they dislodged Atlético de Madrid.

The biggest win was taken by Millonarios, in a tribute to Alfredo Di Stéfano in 2012, but six took Everton, in 1987, and Colo Colo, in 1991: the first was the beginning of Beenhakker as a white coach. It was also an omen of football that Madrid would develop with passes into the hole, breaking into space, with play both on the wings and on the inside. The second was the reunion of the Croatian coach Mirko Jozic with one of his pupils, Robert Prosinecki: it would be one of his great performances with the white jersey before the injuries broke for bad in his Madrid career. There were also bad times: in 1988 and in 1990 it was Milan who took the tournament. In 1992 it was Ajax (a tremendous display by Wim Jonk and Bergkamp) and a year later it was Inter who surprised the whites, winning from the penalty shoot-out.

The 1994 edition was a colossal football match between Valdano's Madrid (Redondo, Laudrup … had arrived) and Roberto Carlos and Rivaldo's Palmeiras. It was a formidable shock for the spectator who discovered several Brazilian talents. The following year there was a curious fact: it was agreed that Ajax would come to play the tournament, but in the Champions League draw that same confrontation was played. UEFA gave permission for the match to be played if there were no problems, the match being played. The whites won by the minimum, but in the European competition it was another story.

From there the trophy was losing quality due to the participating teams. It was in 2002 when a trophy with four participants was organized again: The 100th anniversary of the white club was being celebrated, and the presence of Figo and Zidane was joined by Bayern, Milan and Liverpool. The Germans won in a very close and fought final. He would also lose in 2004 to Pumas led by Hugo Sánchez: it is the only victory for a non-European team.

However, the tight schedule has gradually made the Bernabéu Trophy fall into oblivion: it was not held in 2014, 2019 or 2020. On the first occasion, the calendar was pointed out as a reason not to celebrate it, while in the last two the renovation works of the Bernabéu stadium were the cause of its no celebration. The most emotional have been since 2013: then the whites received Al Sadd where Raúl played, who played a part with each team, while since 2016, it has been played with the teams that played in the European finals 60 years ago: Stade de Reims (2016 and finalist in 1956), Fiorentina (in 2017 and finalist in 1957), Milan (in 2018 and finalist in 1958). That has been the last edition so far. But while waiting for his return, one can only shout Long live the Bernabéu Trophy!

According to historians, the penalty shoot-outs to decide the winner arose in the summer trophies. And, although it has always been stated that the VIII edition of the Ramón de Carranza, held on September 2, 1962, was the first to end the coin in the air in Spain, the truth is that there are studies that show that there were other tournaments that launched this tiebreaker technique. According to the Spanish Soccer History and Statistics Research Center (CIHEFE), that same day the same formula was used to decide the champion in the Concepción Arenal Tournament, between Betis (winner) and the Sports, in Ferrol, and penalties were taken into account in the field of La Granja de A Coruña to elucidate the La Victoria Trophy, who won the Vioño.

Leaving aside the debate of who was before, it should be noted that if he was not the first, Carranza is imposed as one of the pioneers in using the penalty shoot-out. It was Rafael Ballester who devised in 1962 that the solution in the event of a tie would remain in the hands of penalties, each team shooting five consecutively and not alternating as now. This journalist from the Diario de Cádiz thus established the foundations of a technique that lasts today, after being required by the organization of the Carranza Trophy, also popularly known as the Trophy Trophy and that It was founded in 1955 on the occasion of the inauguration of the Cadiz stadium.

Shortly before the Carranza Trophy, the Teresa Herrera (1946), which holds the distinction of being the oldest friendly tournament in Spain. Organized by Depor, which would not participate in it until 1955, it was created for a charitable purpose. Hence its name, which honors Teresa Herrera, a Coruña, who dedicated her life to helping the most disadvantaged. The economic value of his trophy clashes with this idea, which combines Coruña jewelry and Compostela silverware in a magical combination. The result, a badge that reaches 40 kg. and that mixes gold and silver. “None of the official trophies that culminate the longest competitions can boast of so many and such original characteristics.. In fact, in times of sheer materialism, making such a trophy annually and for friendly competition can seem like a whim. But in this case it is not, because Teresa Herrera is not only part of the history of the city, but it is the living essence of it and in this lies the key to its durability “, they highlight from the Galician club, which details how the fiftieth anniversary trophy was made: 2,400 hours of work; 7.4 kilos of gold and 32.7 of silver. It is said that in a hypothetical bid the aforementioned trophy could be around one million euros. It should also be noted that Depor dominates the record with 22 titles, followed by Madrid (9), Atleti (6) and Barça (5).

From the dean of trophies to the dean of Spanish football: the Columbian Trophy, organized by Recreativo de Huelva since 1965. The tournament, whose prize is a silver caravel ship, celebrated its first edition coinciding with the Columbian Festivities of the city of Huelva, with participants from Genoa, Racing de Paris and Recreativo de Huelva, which are the oldest teams in Italy, France and Spain. In recent times, their prestige has declined greatly and now their dispute has barely been heard or has not been carried out, as is the case this summer.

He Joan Gamper Trophy it has served for years as the great staging of the new Barça in each preseason. The Barça team, who will not show off to their fans this year due to COVID-19, showcased its new stars and their titles earned during the season. A fact that left anecdotes such as the one that Puyol gave Ronaldinho, who had just signed for Milan, the League conquered by Barça so that he could pose with her before his exafiction, and with the shirt of the Italian squad.

It has not been the only story that Gamper has left us, in which only twelve teams managed to steal some prominence from Barça with a away victory. One of the most popular was that of 1993 by Tenerife, which beat the Catalan team 1-3 and was applauded by the culé fans. The Canarian team was invited to the Barça trophy in gratitude for being the indirect architect of the achievement of the two Barça League titles in 1992 and 1993. Both championships were decided in favor of the Catalan team after Real Madrid lost at Heliodoro Rodríguez López 3-2 and 2-0, giving the title to Barça, who did not fail at the Camp Nou against Athletic (2-0 ) and Real Sociedad (1-0). A historical milestone known as 'The League of Tenerife'.

Finally, we must remember the prestigious Atlético de Madrid summer trophy: the Villa of Madrid. The rojiblanco tournament was founded in 1973 and was played until 2003, in the match against Boca that served for Perea to land at Manzanares. That year, moreover, was a special tournament, since it coincided with the club's centenary. Jesús Gil continued with the tradition and with the trophy, which was founded under the presidency of Vicente Calderón. In 1999 and 2001 it was not disputed, but Gil did not let him die. Precisely the end of the tournament coincides with the death of the former president. In 2004 it was celebrated under the name of “Hellboy Trophy”, changing its name for commercial reasons and not organizing again since. The maximum champion of the Tournament is Atlético with 18 victories, followed by a distance by Milan, who adds three titles of the defunct trophy, which is feared that other summer tournaments of Spanish football may follow …