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International Champions Cup Review: Everton

The International Champions Cup was a first-time footy tournament based in 7 cities around the United States. It included 8 teams from around Europe and the US. These teams included Juventus, Real Madrid, the LA Galaxy, and Chelsea. Everton’s road in the cup took them to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Miami, facing Juventus, Real Madrid, and, finally, Valencia.

Everton’s opening game against Juventus was Roberto Martinez’s first real challenge as Everton manager and he took it extremely well. Throughout the whole match, Everton was the more dominant team. Mirallas scored Everton’s goal; a scything run from the right, cutting back across his defender and tucking it into the bottom corner past the keeper. Juventus eventually equalized after a Leon Osman mistake dumped the ball right into Juventus midfielder Asamoah’s lap and he rifled it past Tim Howard. The game eventually went to penalties, where, with the scores level at 4-4, prolific Italian penalty taker Andrea Pirlo stepped up and missed wide. Following his miss, 19-year old defender John Stones stepped up and out-Pirloed Pirlo, chipping it into the top right corner of the goal (See the clip of the penalty below). Everton eventually won on penalties, with Howard saving the final one to give the game to the Blues.

Everton’s next game pitted them against the world-renowned Spanish super-giants, Real Madrid. A lot of controversy arose form this match. Everton defender Sylvain Distin had a goal disallowed that would’ve evened the scores at 1-1 due to a very soft foul in the box. Twice Everton striker Kevin Mirallas was fouled right inside the box and both times the would-be penalty was given as a free kick. Ronaldo and Ozil scored Madrid’s goals, both in the 1st half, while Jelavic scored Everton’s goal mid-way through the 2nd. The Blues played well despite the loss, consistently taking the attack to Madrid.

Everton’s 3rd and final game of the tournament was a 5th place match against another Spanish side, Valencia. If you’re wondering why Everton played in a semifinal against Real Madrid and ended up in a 5th place match, the ICC coordinators inexplicably decided to add a points format to the tournament. 2 points for a win, 1 point for a penalties loss, 0 points for a regular loss, much like hockey. Everton ended up losing the match 1-0 to the Spanish side. Easily the worst game of the preseason so far for the Blues, Everton looked lackluster, weren’t creative, and appeared sluggish. They lacked a cutting edge and couldn’t get a decent final ball in, despite Kevin Mirallas and his slaloming runs on the break. Steven Naismith was the standout performer for Everton and that in itself shows how poor the performance was.

Everton’s run in the tournament was a successful one, even if it ended in a loss. They showed real creativity against Juventus and Real Madrid, bossing the games at times against the Italian and Spanish giants. Even in the loss against Valencia, Everton had multiple breaks in which they could’ve scored had they found the final ball. A preseason game against Real Betis at Goodison will be the final tune-up for the Blues before their opening day match against Norwich.

 

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