Oliver Patric Neuville is a German former footballer who played as a striker.
Oliver Rolf Kahn is a German football executive and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. He started his career in the Karlsruher SC Junior team in 1975. Twelve years later, Kahn made his debut match in the professional squad. In 1994, he was transferred to Bayern Munich for the fee of DM 4.6 million, where he played until the end of his career in 2008. His commanding presence in goal and aggressive style earned him nicknames such as Der Titan from the press and Vol-kahn-o ("volcano") from fans. Kahn is one of the most successful German players in recent history, having won eight Bundesliga titles, six DFB-Pokals, the UEFA Cup in 1996, the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup, both achieved in 2001. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, his individual contributions have earned him a record four consecutive UEFA Best European Goalkeeper awards, as well as three IFFHS World's Best Goalkeeper awards, and two German Footballer of the Year trophies. At the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Kahn became the only goalkeeper in the tournament's history to win the Golden Ball. Kahn placed fifth in both the IFFHS Best Goalkeeper of the 21st Century and Best Goalkeeper of the Past 25 Years elections.
Michael Ballack is a German former professional footballer. He was selected by Pelé as one of FIFA's 100 Greatest Living Players, and as the UEFA Club Midfielder of the Year in 2002. He won the German Footballer of the Year award three times – in 2002, 2003 and 2005. Ballack was known for his passing range, powerful shot, physical strength and commanding presence in midfield.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the Bundesliga, the top tier of German football, and plays its home matches at the BayArena.
The captain of a football/soccer team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influence a game or has good leadership qualities. The team captain is usually identified by the wearing of an armband.
Spielvereinigung Unterhaching is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The club is widely known for playing in the first-division association football league Bundesliga alongside its more famous cousins, Bayern Munich and 1860 Munich, for two seasons between 1999 and 2001, while the club's bobsleigh department has captured several world and Olympic titles. The football team won promotion into the 3. Liga after beating Cottbus 4–1 on aggregate in June 2023.
Michael Rensing is a German former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He has played for Bayern Munich, 1. FC Köln, Bayer Leverkusen and Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Julio Daniel dos Santos Rodríguez is a Paraguayan former footballer.
Bernd Schneider is a German former professional footballer. He was mainly a midfielder but could play anywhere on the left and right flanks. After retiring in June 2009, he took up an advisory role at his first club, Carl Zeiss Jena, and a scouting position at Bayer Leverkusen.
The 2002 UEFA Champions League final was the final match of the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, Europe's primary club football competition. The show-piece event was contested between Bayer Leverkusen of Germany and Real Madrid of Spain at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, on 15 May 2002 to decide the winner of the Champions League. Leverkusen appeared in the final for the first time, whereas Real Madrid appeared in their 12th final.
Kevin-Prince Boateng is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder or forward. Born in Germany, he played for the Ghana national team.
Patrick Helmes is a German professional football manager and former player who most recently managed Oberliga Westfalen club Sportfreunde Siegen.
The 2001–02 season saw Bayer Leverkusen become the second club to finish runners-up in the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and the Champions League in the same season after Barcelona in 1986, with a potential treble unravelling in the final couple of weeks of the season, resulting in no trophies won at all, plus the defections of stars Michael Ballack and Zé Roberto to Bayern Munich. Leverkusen dominated the second half of the Champions League final against Real Madrid, but lost 2–1 due to a volley from Zinedine Zidane in the latter stages of the first interval.
FC Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga and the German domestic cup, following a season without trophies in the year before. Despite the 16-point margin to the second-placed VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga, the season was not regarded as a complete success due to a humiliating run in the UEFA Champions League, where the club earned only two points from six matches. Even though it arguably had the toughest group of all, with Milan, Deportivo de La Coruña and Lens as opponents, early elimination was still not expected with signings such as Michael Ballack, Zé Roberto and Sebastian Deisler, and incumbents such as the 2002 FIFA World Cup's player of the tournament Oliver Kahn in the squad.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen bounced back from the nearly disastrous season it came from, finishing in the top three and qualifying for the UEFA Champions League in the process. The season marked the breakthrough for Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov, who scored 16 goals, whereas Brazilian signing França contributed with 14 strikes. As it was, it was the attack that impressed the most, especially in the 6–2 crushing of champions Werder Bremen on the penultimate day of the season.
Hamburger SV had another mediocre season, finishing in the lower reaches of the mid-table of Bundesliga. Mid-season purchase Bernardo Romeo made his mark immediately at his new club, which somewhat compensated for Sergej Barbarez loss of form. At the end of the season, Hamburg was ten points from both European qualifying and relegation.
FC Bayern Munich won the domestic double, beating Werder Bremen by five points in Bundesliga, and defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 1–0 in the DFB-Pokal final, thanks to a goal from Claudio Pizarro. The season was in spite of that tainted due to a big defeat to Milan in the UEFA Champions League, losing out 5–2 on aggregate in the Last 16. At the end of the season, Bayern signed German football's wonderkid Lukas Podolski from Köln. This was the club's first season at the Allianz Arena.
The 2007–08 season is the 98th season of competitive football in Germany.
The 1999–2000 season was the first time SpVgg Unterhaching played in the 1. Bundesliga, the highest tier of the German football league system.
