The Antonio Puerta Trophy is an annual summer tournament hosted by Sevilla FC since 2008. The tournament is dedicated to Antonio Puerta, who died on 28 August 2007 (at the age of 22) after suffering a heart injury during the inaugural match of the 2007–08 La Liga season against Getafe.
Played on 23 August 2008 against Málaga CF, the team promoted to La Liga that year. It served to commemorate Antonio Puerta and all the victims of the Spanair Flight 5022, the aviation accident which occurred three days before.
It was played on November, during a Liga BBVA break because of UEFA Champions League Group Stage (matchday 5). The rival this time was Granada, team promoted that season to Liga Adelante. It has been the first time since this tournament exists that Sevilla lost the final match.
The fourth edition of the tournament was celebrated in summer again, during the pre-season. The guest for the first time wasn't Andalusian; it was RCD Espanyol, Sevilla twinned team after suffering a similar tragedy as happened to the organizing club in 2007 (Daniel Jarque's death).[1]
Sevilla's opponents were Boca Juniors, winners of the 2015 Argentine Primera División and the first non-Spanish team to take part.[2] About 2,000 visiting supporters (most of them expatriate Argentines living in European countries) attended the match.[3] Boca Juniors players wore a patch on their jerseys displaying the "16" worn by Puerta as a tribute to him.[4]Carlos Tévez, with two goals scored and two assists, was the man of match.[5][6]
Sevilla (2023)
