2007 Premier League Asia Trophy

Barclays Asia Trophy 2007 at Hong Kong Stadium.

The 2007 Premier League Asia Trophy (Traditional chinese: 巴克萊亞洲錦標賽) was the third edition of the Premier League Asia Trophy, a four-team association football tournament held every two years. The tournament was held in Hong Kong. The 2007 edition was competed by South China AA, the winner of Hong Kong's FA Cup, Liverpool, Portsmouth and Fulham at the 40,000-capacity Hong Kong Stadium. The semi-finals took place on 24 July and the final and third-place play-off were on 27 July 2007.

Portsmouth won the first semi-final 1-0 against Fulham after a goal by Benjani in the 45th minute. Liverpool beat South China in the second semi-final thanks to a John Arne Riise free-kick and a Xabi Alonso penalty. South China pulled a goal back with a Li Haiqiang free-kick, but Daniel Agger scored to make it 3-1. Fulham beat South China 4-1 in the third place play-off, while Portsmouth beat Liverpool 4-2 on penalties to win the Premier League Asia Trophy after a goalless draw in normal time.

Competition format

The competition used a knock-out format. South China played Liverpool, while Fulham played Portsmouth, both matches taking place on 24 July. The winners competed in the final on 27 July, while the losers played in the third place play-off on the same day.

Prizes

Hong Kong FA Cup winner South China received HK$500,000 from the organizers as appearance fee in the tournament. The winner of the tournament received a trophy as well as £100,000 prize money.

Official match programme

An A5 sized, 60-page bilingual (English/Chinese) official match programme was published for sale during the match days within the stadium. It retailed at HK$20 (~£1.30).

Results

Semi-finals Final
24 July 2007 – Hong Kong (Hong Kong Stadium)
 Hong Kong South China  1  
 England Liverpool  3  
 
27 July 2007 – Hong Kong (Hong Kong Stadium)
     England Portsmouth  0 (4)
   England Liverpool  0 (2)
Third place
24 July 2007 - Hong Kong (Hong Kong Stadium) 27 July 2007 – Hong Kong (Hong Kong Stadium)
 England Portsmouth  1   England Fulham  4
 England Fulham  0    Hong Kong South China  1

Semi-finals

2007-07-24
18:00 HKT
10:00 UTC
Fulham England 0 1 England Portsmouth
(Report) Benjani  45'
Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong
Attendance: 36,801
Referee: Chris Foy

2007-07-24
20:30 HKT
12:30 UTC
South China AA Hong Kong 1 3 England Liverpool
Li Haiqiang  35' (Report) Riise  10'
Alonso  28' (pen.)
Agger  74'
Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong
Attendance: 36,801
Referee: Mark Clattenburg

Third place play-off

2007-07-27
18:00 HKT
10:00 UTC
South China AA Hong Kong 1 4 England Fulham
Barros  57' (Report) Diop  20'
Bocanegra  47'
Healy  74'
McBride  84'
Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong
Attendance: 39,535

Final

2007-07-27
20:30 HKT
12:30 UTC
Liverpool England 0 0 (a.e.t.)
(2 4 pen.)
England Portsmouth
(Report)
  Penalties  
Gerrard
Kuyt
Benayoun
Torres
2 4 Utaka
Taylor
LuaLua
Hreiðarsson
Kranjčar
Hong Kong Stadium, Hong Kong
Attendance: 39,535

Goalscorers

The goal scorers from the Premier League Asia Trophy 2007 are as follows:

# Name Team Goals
1 Denmark Daniel Agger England Liverpool 1
Spain Xabi Alonso England Liverpool 1
China Li Haiqiang Hong Kong South China 1
Norway John Arne Riise England Liverpool 1
Zimbabwe Benjani Mwaruwari England Portsmouth 1
Senegal Papa Bouba Diop England Fulham 1
United States Carlos Bocanegra England Fulham 1
Brazil Flavio Barros Hong Kong South China 1
Northern Ireland David Healy England Fulham 1
United States Brian McBride England Fulham 1

Player of the Tournament

The Player of the Tournament award was awarded to David James of Portsmouth. James kept 2 clean sheets, and saved penalties from Yossi Benayoun and Fernando Torres.

Gallery

See also

External links