Season › 2013-14 › News Everton vs Juventus Lyndon Lloyd , 30 July, 0comments | Jump to most recent International Champions Cup Match 2 Preview Everton embark on their part of the prestigious Guinness International Champions Cup on Wednesday when they take on Italian Champions Juventus at AT&T Park, the home of reigning World Series Champions the San Francisco Giants. The baseball team's notoriously breezy home turf will be transformed into a regulation football pitch for the second match in the inaugural tournament, a game that, as Dr David France coined it, represents the "Lost Uefa Super Cup". The post-Heysel ban on English clubs competing in Europe robbed Everton, the winners of the 1985 European Cup Winners' Cup, of the chance to meet Juventus, that year's European Cup winners, and this week's match-up brings the two clubs together for the first time, 28 years on since that fateful decision. Though the ICC is ostensibly an exhibition tournament it represents an excellent opportunity for Roberto Martinez to tune his squad against top-class opposition. Indeed, it puts the Blues in the illustrious company of the likes of Wednesday's opponents Juve, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Internazionale (not to mention big-spending Chelsea) for which the Everton hierarchy deserve enourmous credit for securing our involvement. Article continues below video content And as daunting as that opposition appears to be on paper, it also provides Martinez with the chance of winning a trophy — however inconsequential — before six weeks have elapsed since he officially took the reins at Goodison Park. Building the players' fitness, improving their match sharpness, avoiding serious injury and ensuring that some of the younger players get sufficient playing time will be the new boss' main priorities but the chance to win an eight-team competition against some of the best teams in the world will surely be at the back of his mind. Furthermore, the new Premier League season will be just two-and-a-half weeks away when this game kicks off so it would not be surprising to see Martinez field a strong line-up from the start against Juve. As well as regular pre-season starters like Kevin Mirallas, who has looked sharp and dangerous thus far, Nikica Jelavic could find himself in the starting XI, perhaps alongside Arouna Kone, but some more caution may be exercised with Leighton Baines after he was rested against Blackburn on Saturday with a minor hip complaint. There will also, of course, be anticipation surrounding 19 year-old Barcelona starlet Gerard Deulofeu who is set to make his first appearance in the Royal Blue Jersey on the US tour. It's unlikely he will start but, after being put through his paces in a training session at Ewood Park after the 3-1 win over Blackburn at the weekend and impressing in training in San Francisco on Monday, he will no doubt be ready to play his part as a substitute. Juventus, for their part, brought a 30-man squad to the US, among them draws like Andrea Pirlo, Gianlugi Buffon and former Manchester United and City striker Carlos Tevez who made the switch to the Old Lady this summer. The Turin giants will be behind in terms of fitness and pre-season preparations and that might give the Blues a leg up as Martinez and his new charges look to kick their pre-season campaign up a notch. About these ads © ToffeeWeb