How Barcelona, Forest and Udinese are Reviving a Calcio Cult Classic

Barcelona and Nottingham Forest are set to resurrect a quintessential staple of the Italian summer when they travel to Udine for the inaugural Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup.

The LaLiga champions and the Premier League side both face Udinese in friendlies at the Bluenergy Stadium. So far, so normal, you may think and the logical next step for a region looking to establish itself as a top football destination after hosting the European Super Cup final between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham in 2025.

“We’re delighted to host the first edition of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup,” said Udinese general manager Franco Collavino. 

“It’ll be an important event for the team as competitive games draw nearer, as well as an extraordinary opportunity for the promotion of Friuli Venezia Giulia.

“For fans and tourists, it’s set to be an evening of great sport as well as a unique opportunity to discover what makes Friuli Venezia Giulia so special.”

However, these aren’t just ordinary friendlies. The games will last 45 minutes, with penalties to follow in the event of a draw.

And, no, this isn’t another extravagant idea concocted by Gianni Infantino, but rather the reintroduction of the format followed by the Birra Moretti Trophy.

Named after the famous Italian brewery, the Trofeo Birra Moretti made its debut in 1997 and ran until 2008. Along with the Trofeo Berlusconi – a one-off game pitting AC Milan against a glamorous opponent – and the TIM Cup, named after the eponymous Italian telecoms giant, the tournament was a load-bearing wall of the Italian football summer.

The Trofeo Birra Moretti moved across three Italia 90 host venues, beginning with the Stadio Friuli in Udine, which hosted the first three editions and underwent a major redevelopment a decade ago when it rebranded as Bluenergy Stadium.

The Friuli was far from a casual choice of venue, as Birra Moretti was founded in Udine, approximately two miles south of the ground. The park next to the brewery was the site of the Stadio Moretti, Udinese’s home until they moved to the Friuli in 1976.

The only nod to the brewery and the club that remains these days on the site is a colonnade carrying the Moretti name along with Udine’s coat of arms on one of the pillars.

The tournament then moved down to the Stadio San Nicola in Bari for the next four years and to the Stadio San Paolo, as Napoli’s home ground was known then, in 2005 at a time when the Partenopei were still in Serie C.

The famous ground in Fuorigrotta would serve as the competition’s final host venue until 2008, and with four appearances, Napoli are the third-most featured team, behind Juventus and Inter Milan with 11 apiece.

The Bianconeri took part even after they were relegated to Serie B in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal in 2006, and are the most successful team in the history of the competition with six victories, while Inter won it three times but finished bottom four years in a row from 2003.

Milan, Bari, Parma and Palermo also all took part once, as did Chelsea, the only non-Italian team to compete in the Trofeo Birra Moretti.

The Blues, featuring Gianfranco Zola and with Claudio Ranieri in charge, were included in the 2002 edition, but failed to score, drawing 0-0 against Juventus and losing 3-0 to Inter. Frank Lampard remains the only Englishman to take a penalty in the tournament, and he missed in the shootout defeat by Juventus.

Christian Vieri had no such problems, claiming a tournament record six goals across his appearances, and neither had Udinese and Juventus, who scored seven between them in 45 frantic minutes in 1998. Udinese edged that one 4-3.

The tournament was startling in its simplicity. Three teams facing each other in 45-minute matches, in halves of 22 minutes and 30 seconds each, with penalties to follow in the event of a draw. Victory in 45 minutes was worth three points, with two points for winning on penalties and one point for losing from the spot.

The penalty shootouts had an exotic flavour between 2002 and 2007 when organisers introduced the spot-kick format Major League Soccer in the United States had implemented in its early days, with three takers per team. Inspired by ice hockey, the shootouts required players to start 35 yards from goal and sprint toward the keeper with five seconds to score.

The MLS ran the format in the mid-to-late 1990s and the Trofeo Moretti returned to the traditional penalties from 12 yards for its last edition.

The American-style shootout was a relatively straightforward twist on an old classic when compared to some of the other innovations, which included players having to take kick-ins instead of throw-ins, short corners, and seven substitutions per team.

But there was far more than gimmicks to the Trofeo Birra Moretti. Long before every summer friendly was available to watch and long before Serie A clubs left Italy behind to embark on tours abroad, the competition served as a soft launch for the season.

For many, it was the chance to get a first glimpse of new signings and TV companies were quickly to seize on the chance to satisfy the demand for live football in August.

All 12 editions were broadcast exclusively on free-to-air television across Mediaset’s networks, alternating between Canale 5 and Italia 1 with consistently high viewership, peaking in 1999 with a record audience share of 27.29% — drawing in 3.3million viewers.

The Trofeo Birra Moretti’s popularity spawned the Trofeo TIM, which crucially did not feature rule changes but ultimately eclipsed its counterpart. Udine and Udinese will be hoping they can roll back the years this summer.

Tickets can be bought through Udinese’s official website.