The Otten Cup returns after a three-year hiatus

The Otten Cup will return for the 73rd edition after a three-year hiatus under the name Otten Innovation Cup. The international tournament is scheduled to take place at PSV Campus De Herdgang on 18, 19 and 20 August and will be organised by PSV, in close co-operation with Red Bull and the KNVB.

PSV U19 will take on their counterparts from Manchester United, FC Utrecht, Red Bull Bragantino, Rangers FC, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, RSC Anderlecht and FC Copenhagen. The Otten Cup has built up a good reputation for showcasing the stars of the future. Players like Memphis Depay, Ibrahim Afellay and Cody Gakpo all made their name in the professional game after playing in the tournament.

Compete with contemporaries
Earnest Stewart, Director of Football at PSV, is looking forward to seeing some best young talents in action. “It offers our players a great opportunity to compete with their contemporaries from other renowned academies. This tournament will endorse our PSV Academy, so we are happy The Otten Cup returns after three seasons.”

Fairer, more honest and attractive
The KNVB (the Dutch FA) introduces five rule change experiments during the tournament: players will be allowed to dribble the ball from a free-kick, there is effective playing time, unlimited substitutions and a time penalty after a yellow card has been shown. “Football is the world’s most popular sport and to maintain its popularity for future generations we do structural research into rule change experiments that could make football fairer, more honest and attractive at different levels. We discuss the results of these experiments with the International Football Association Board and FIFA”, explains Gijs de Jong, representative of the KNVB.

Red Bull Soccer
Mario Gomez, technical director at Red Bull Soccer, is excited about the prestigious tournament. “At Red Bull Soccer, we are always focused on the future and on innovation. We have competed with Leipzig in the Future of Football Cup since its introduction and Red Bull Bragantino will gladly take part in the Otten Innovation Cup. We like to be part of the experiment with new rules and give our feedback to the KNVB. We think this is the right approach to have players perform at a high level. They face an extra cognitive challenge during the preparation for the new season”, said the former top striker.