2002 Euro Beach Soccer League

Last updated
2002 Euro Beach Soccer League
Tournament details
Dates1 June – 7 September
Teams10 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)11 (in 11 host cities)
Final positions
ChampionsFlag of Portugal.svg  Portugal (1st title)
Runners-upFlag of Spain.svg  Spain
Third placeFlag of France.svg  France
Fourth placeFlag of Turkey.svg  Turkey
Tournament statistics
Matches played67
Goals scored733 (10.94 per match)
Top scorer(s) Flag of Portugal.svg Alan
Best player(s) Flag of Italy.svg Gianni Fruzzetti
Best goalkeeper Flag of Spain.svg Roberto Valeiro
2001
2003
Europe blank laea location map.svg
Yellow pog.svg
El Arenal
Locations of the events of the 2002 Euro Beach Soccer League
Yellow pog.svg Southern Group events
Red pog.svg Northern Group events
Blue pog.svg Superfinal

The 2002 Euro Beach Soccer League, was the fifth edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the premier beach soccer competition contested between European men's national teams, known as the European Pro Beach Soccer League at the time, occurring annually since its establishment in 1998. The league was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) between June 1 and September 7, 2002 in nine different nations across Europe.

Contents

This season BSWW introduced Divisions to the EBSL for the first time; the nations of the league were split into two groups based on similar levels of ability. These groups were known as the Southern and Northern groups, named so after the roughly similar geographical locations in Europe the nations in the respective divisions could be found. The Southern group consisted of the best 4 nations of the EBSL and was considered as the top division. Whilst the Northern group consisted of the other teams of lesser ability and was considered the lower division of the two. The difference in abilities of the two divisions was reflected in there being less Superfinal qualification spots available for the Northern group. [1]

Each team competed in their respective division/group to try and earn a place in the season-finale event, the Superfinal, in which the league title was then contested directly. [2]

Spain entered the competition as three-time defending champions. However it was Portugal, who having finished runners-up in the league for the last two years, finally found success and claimed their maiden European title by beating the Spanish in the final. [3] [4]

The league also doubled as the qualification process for the 2003 Beach Soccer World Championship. The nations finishing in first, second and third place qualified. [5]

Teams

This season 10 nations took part in the Euro Beach Soccer League whom were and were distributed as follows. Despite the names of the groups following the rough geographical locations of the teams in Europe, Turkey was a notably clear exception in the "Northern" group.

Superfinal berths

Following on from the maiden Superfinal last season, the season-ending event was expanded from four teams to six teams. The table summarises in what positions nations needed to finish in their respective divisions/groups in order to qualify to the Superfinal and what round of the Superfinal they would enter finishing in said positions.

Allocations: [6]

The amount of qualification spots available in the Superfinal from each division reflected the abilities of the nations in the respective groups.

#Position in DivisionGroupRound entered
1WinnerSouthernSemi-finals
2Runner-up
3Third placeQuarter-finals
4Fourth place
5WinnerNorthern
6Runner-up

Southern Group (Top Division)

The Southern Group consisted of four rounds of fixtures known as stages, with one stage hosted in each of the four countries participating as shown. All four teams took part in each. In each stage, the teams played each other once. The nation who earned the most points at the end of the stage was crowned stage winners.

At the end of the four stages all results were tallied up in a final league table.

Stage 1

The first stage took place in Marseille, France. Spain finished as victors in the opening round.

Stage 2

The second stage took place in Carcavelos, Portugal. The hosts claimed their first stage of the season.

Stage 3

The third stage took place in Rome, Italy. Portugal followed up their first stage win with a second crown here.

Stage 4

The fourth stage took place in El Arenal, Mallorca, Spain. The final stage was claimed by France.

Final table

All four teams automatically qualified to the Superfinal. Finishing first and second earned those teams byes straight into the semi-finals of the Superfinal, whilst the lower positioned teams in third and fourth were entered into the quarter-finals

Portugal were crowned winners of the group and earned the bye into the Superfinal semi-finals along with runners-up Spain.

PosTeamPldWW+LGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 129036339+2427Advance to Superfinal semi-finals
2Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 127145343+1023
3Flag of France.svg  France 122375665–912Advance to Superfinal quarter-finals
4Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 1220103560–256

Northern Group (Lower Division)

The Northern consisted of six rounds of fixtures known as stages, which commenced before the matches of the Southern Group. Of the nations competing, Austria hosted two stages, England, Switzerland and Turkey one, whilst Norway and Germany did not host any stage (despite Düsseldorf originally scheduled to host a round of fixtures). [2] The remaining stage was held in a neutral country, France. Four of the six teams took part in each stage, with each team taking part in a total of four stages. In every round of fixtures the teams played each other once. The nation who earned the most points at the end of the stage was crowned stage winners.

At the end of the six stages all results were tallied up in a final league table.

Stage 1

The first stage took place in Brighton, England. The Swiss won the first stage crown.

Stage 2

The second stage took place in Alanya, Turkey. Switzerland won their second consecutive stage.

Stage 3

The third stage took place in Basel, Switzerland. Turkey were crowned stage champions based on their head-to-head record with Germany.

Stage 4

The fourth stage took place in Linz, Austria. The hosts finished with their first stage win of the season.

Stage 5

The fifth stage took place in Kitzbühel, Austria. Turkey won the stage based on their head-to-head record with Norway, whilst Austria finished ahead of Germany also based on head-to-head records.

Stage 6

The sixth and final stage took place in Palavas-les-Flots, France. Austria claimed the final stage of the Northern Group.

Final table

The top two teams qualified to the Superfinal, entering at the quarter-final stage. The remaining nations exited this season's EBSL.

Austria were narrowly crowned winners, with runners-up Turkey ousting Switzerland by a similarly slim margin to also successfully qualify for the season-ending event.

PosTeamPldWW+LGFGAGDPtsQualification
1Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 128048765+2224Advance to Superfinal quarter-finals
2Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 125437864+1423
3Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg   Switzerland 127057867+1121
4Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 126067169+218
5Flag of England.svg  England 124084781–3412
6Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 1211106277–155

Superfinal

Qualified teams

This is a summary of the teams who qualified for the Superfinal.

#TeamGroupRound entered
1Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal SouthernSemi-finals
2Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
3Flag of France.svg  France Quarter-finals
4Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
5Flag of Austria.svg  Austria Northern
6Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey

Results

This season the Superfinal was played as a straight knockout tournament. Four of the six teams contesting the title started in the quarter-finals, whilst the top two nations from the Southern Group received a bye and started in the semi-finals. The teams played one match per round until the final when the winner of the 2002 Euro Beach Soccer League was crowned. The losers of the quarter and semi-finals played in consolation matches to determine their final league placements.

In the quarter-finals the Southern and Northern group qualifiers were kept apart; one tie involved the two qualifiers from the Northern Group playing against each other, whilst the other tie had the two qualifiers from the Southern Group playing one another. Finishing in the top two of the top tier, Portugal had a bye straight into the semis. However, as winners of the Southern Group, Portugal were also rewarded with getting to play the weaker of the two quarter-final winners, the winner of the all-Northern tie, in the semi-finals. Whilst Spain, as runners-up of the Southern Group, did not earn this luxury and had to play the harder-on-paper winner of the all-Southern quarter-final. [6]

Quarter-finals (5th Sep.)Semi-finals (6th Sep.)Final (7th Sep.)
Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 8
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 6Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 5
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 14Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal 8
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 6
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain (pens.)7 (1)
Flag of France.svg  France 12Flag of France.svg  France 7 (0)
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 7
5th place match (6th Sep.)3rd place match (7th Sep.)
Flag of Austria.svg  Austria 7Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey 3
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 6Flag of France.svg  France 9

Championship match details

Portugal  Flag of Portugal.svg86Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
Hernâni Soccerball shade.svg5', 6'
Alan Soccerball shade.svg15', 20', 27', 36'
Madjer Soccerball shade.svg16', 25'
Report Soccerball shade.svg5', 15', 31' Amarelle
Soccerball shade.svg20' David
Soccerball shade.svg24', 35' Eloy
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Referee: Patrick Fautrad (France)

Winners

 2002 Euro Beach Soccer League
champions 
Flag of Portugal.svg
Portugal
First title
Awards [17]
Best player: Flag of Spain.svg Amarelle
Top scorer(s): Flag of Turkey.svg Tamer Ay, Flag of France.svg Frank Bonora (9 goals)
Best goalkeeper: Flag of France.svg Pascal Olmeta

Superfinal final standings

Portugal beat Spain in the final to win their first Euro Beach Soccer League title at their fifth attempt, and end Spain's run of three successive EPBSL titles.

Finishing in the top three positions also earned those nations qualification straight into the upcoming World Cup. [5]

PosTeamNotesQualification
1Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal EBSL ChampionsQualified to 2003 Beach Soccer World Championship
2Flag of Spain.svg  Spain Runners-up
3Flag of France.svg  France Third place
4Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey
5Flag of Austria.svg  Austria
6Flag of Italy.svg  Italy

Sources

  1. "EPBSL 2002 New structure". beachsoccer.com. 19 August 2002. Archived from the original on 7 March 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. 1 2 "Calendar – June 2002". beachsoccer.com. June 2002. Archived from the original on 16 June 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. "PORTUGAL definitely the winner". beachsoccer.com. 7 September 2002. Archived from the original on 13 October 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. "PORTUGAL wins the EPBSL 2002 after 4 consecutive attempts". beachsoccer.com. 7 September 2002. Archived from the original on 13 October 2002. Retrieved 2 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. 1 2 "IX Campeonato Mundial de Beach Soccer, 16 a 23 de fevereiro/2003, Praia de Copacabana/RJ" (in Portuguese). beachsoccerbrasil.com.br. Archived from the original on 18 June 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  6. 1 2 "Monaco competition structure". beachsoccer.com. 20 August 2002. Archived from the original on 13 May 2003. Retrieved 2 April 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. "2002 - Stage 2 - Marseille , France - July 5 to 7 2002". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2002-09-19. Retrieved 19 September 2002.
  8. "2002 - Stage 4 - Estoril - Portugal - July 12 to 14". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2002-09-12. Retrieved 19 September 2002.
  9. "2002 - Stage 6 - Rome - Italy - 19 to 21 July". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2002-09-12. Retrieved 20 September 2002.
  10. "2002 - Stage 8 - Mallorca - Spain - 26 to 28 July". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2002-09-20. Retrieved 20 September 2002.
  11. "2002 - Stage 1 - Brighton - England - June 1 to 3 2002". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2002-09-12. Retrieved 6 August 2002.
  12. "2002 - Stage 3 - Alanya - Turkey - July 12 to 14 2002". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2002-09-19. Retrieved 19 September 2002.
  13. "2002 - Stage 5 - Basel - Switzerland - July 19 to 21". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2002-09-19. Retrieved 19 September 2002.
  14. "2002 - Stage 7 - Linz - Austria - August 2 to 4". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2002-09-20. Retrieved 20 September 2002.
  15. "Referat og bilder fra Kitzbühel". Beach Soccer Norway (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 2002-10-09. Retrieved 19 September 2002.
  16. "2002 - Stage 11 - Palavas - France - August 30th to Sept. 1st". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 2002-09-19. Retrieved 19 September 2002.
  17. "EPBSL 2002 - Final Bulletin" (PDF). Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2003-10-24. Retrieved 24 October 2003.

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