At the presentation of the tournament, which took place on Friday at the Hilton Hotel in Vilamoura, almost all the current managers of the participating teams were present, with the exception of Gordon Strachan who was still back home celebrating the champion's title they had won on Thursday.

For Algarvean Manuel Cajuda, the coach of “Vitória minhoto”, this will be a chance to return to his home territory and get the necessary experience for entering his team in the Europan competitions. He said he was doubly pleased, both to return to “his” Algarve and to participate in a tournament of this class with Guimarães. He added that it was another learning stage for the club which would help them in the upcoming international competitions, especially the Champions League.

Another manager returning to the Algarve is Gareth Southgate, manager of Middlesbrough, who often brings his team to the Algarve for training camps. Gareth praised the climate and acknowledged the “difficulty” of the tournament.

For Dave Jones of Cardiff, this tournament crowns a great season. He said it had been a very important season for Cardiff, they had reached the Cup Final although it had diverted them from their aim of going up, which is what they wanted this year. He said this tournament would give them a good basis for the forthcoming season.

The games start on 22nd July at 7.15 pm with Vitória de Guimarães - Cardiff. At 9.30 pm it will be the turn of Celtic - Middlesbrough. On 24th Guimarães will face Middlesbrough at 7.15 pm. The final match in the tournament will be between Cardiff and Celtic at 9.30 pm.

The price of tickets is 38.50 euros for one day or 70 euros for the two days, and 250 euros for a family ticket, with admission for the two days for two adults and two children.

Tickets can be purchased from the clubs concerned, or on the website http://www.findutickets.com/.

source: http://www.algarveobserver.com