Welcome to the Peace Cup 2009!

Summer is almost here in Andalucia, but that doesn't mean that football is finished. Coming up between July 24th and August 2nd 2009 is the Peace Cup 2009, the biggest and best pre-season competition featuring some of the world's biggest clubs.

As the name suggests, the object of the Peace Cup is to use football to advance the goal of world peace. Run by the Sunmoon Peace Football Foundation, past winners include Tottenham Hotspur and Olympique Lyonnais.

Previous editions of the Peace Cup have been held in Korea, but for the first time the competition is coming to Europe, with five stadiums in Andalucia and one in Madrid set to host matches that will delight both the Spanish public and the world at large. (We'll have more information about the venues and about Andalucia for you over the coming days.)

The international flavour of the tournament is very much alive, with twelve teams from nine countries taking part. In alphabetical order, these are:

Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia)
Aston Villa (England)
Celtic (Scotland)
Fenerbahce (Turkey)
Juventus (Italy)
LDU Quito (Ecuador)
Malaga CF (Spain)
Olympique Lyonnais (France)
FC Porto (Portugal)
Seongnam FC (Korea)
Sevilla CF (Spain)
Real Madrid (Spain)

The draw will be made this Thursday, April 16th, so you can find out the fate of your favourite team.

Also to look forward to this week:

• Monday night press conference - getting ready for hosting, Malaga share their thoughts
  
• A history of the Peace Cup, which played its first tournament in 2003
• An in-depth look at both the teams and the stadiums involved this year in Andalucia
• Timing is everything: why it matters that the Peace Cup takes place in the middle of a transfer window

So, in peace and sport, we invite you to share all the build-up and action for this tournament with us.

--Goal.com team