2002 in association football

The following are the football (soccer) events of the year 2002 throughout the world.

Events

• 8 January – MLS contracts league down to ten clubs by eliminating its two Florida franchises: Tampa Bay Mutiny and Miami Fusion.
• 13 February – Dick Advocaat is reinstated as the manager of the Netherlands, as the successor of the failing Louis van Gaal, with a 1–1 draw in a friendly against England in Amsterdam.
• 16 March - A Football League First Division match between Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion at Bramall Lane is abandoned in the 82nd minute with the scores 3-0 to West Bromwich Albion, after Sheffield United go down to 6 men on the field, becoming the only match in English professional football history to be abandoned due to a shortage of players, in a match that would be known as the Battle of Bramall Lane.
• The 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan is held from 31 May to 30 June in South Korea and Japan. Brazil wins its fifth title, defeating Germany 2–0 in the final. Surprisingly, Turkey and host nation South Korea take 3rd and 4th. This is the first time a World Cup is held in Asia and by two countries simultaneously.
• UEFA Champions League: Real Madrid beats Bayer Leverkusen 2–1 in the final. This was Real Madrid's 9th European Cup.
• UEFA Cup: Feyenoord wins 3–2 in the final against Borussia Dortmund, winning the cup for the second time.
• European Super Cup: Real Madrid wins 3–1 over Feyenoord, winning the cup for the first time.
• Scotland – Scottish Premier League: Celtic win the league with an overall points tally of 103, a new record.
• Copa Libertadores 2002: Olimpia of Paraguay wins the final on a penalty shootout (4–2) against São Caetano of Brazil.
• England – FA Cup: Arsenal wins 2–0 over Chelsea.
• Asian Champions Cup – Suwon Samsung Bluewings retain the Asian Champions Cup, defeating fellow South Korean club Anyang LG Cheetahs 4–2 on penalties. They also retained the Asian Super Cup.
• May – Arsenal wins The Double
• 31 August – Real Madrid signs Inter Milan's World Cup winner Ronaldo with a transfer fee of €45 million.
• 1 October – Gerard van der Lem is named manager of the Saudi Arabia national football team.
• 3 December – Real Madrid wins the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo, Japan for the third time, by defeating Paraguay's Olimpia Asunción: 2–0.

Winners of national club championship

Asia

•   Iran:
  • Pro League – Persepolis
  • Azadegan League – Sanat Naft
  • Hazfi Cup – Esteghlal
•   Japan – Júbilo Iwata
•   Qatar – Al-Ittihad
•   South Korea – Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
•   Thailand – Osotspa M-150

Europe

• Croatia – NK Zagreb
• Denmark – Brøndby
• England – Arsenal
• France – Lyon
• Germany – Borussia Dortmund
• Iceland – KR
• Ireland – Shelbourne
• Italy – Juventus
• Netherlands
  • Eredivisie – Ajax
  • Eerste Divisie – Zwolle
• Portugal – Sporting CP
• Russia – Lokomotiv Moscow
• Scotland – Celtic
• Spain
  • La Liga – Valencia
  • Copa del Rey – Deportivo La Coruña
• Sweden: for fuller coverage, see: 2002 in Swedish football
  • Allsvenskan and Svenska Cupen – Djurgården
• Turkey – Galatasaray
• Ukraine – Shakhtar Donetsk
• FR Yugoslavia – Partizan

North and Central America

•   Canada – Ottawa Wizards (CPSL)
•   Mexico
  • Verano 2002 – Club América
  • Apertura 2002 – Club Toluca
•   United States – Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS)

South America

• Argentina:
  • 2001–02 Clausura – River Plate
  • 2002–03 Apertura – Independiente
• Bolivia – Bolívar
• Brazil – Santos
• Ecuador – Emelec
• Paraguay – Libertad
• Uruguay – Nacional

International tournaments

• African Cup of Nations in Mali (19 January – 13 February 2002)
  1.   Cameroon
  2.   Senegal
  3.   Nigeria
• FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan (31 May – 30 June 2002)
  1.   Brazil
  2.   Germany
  3.   Turkey

National team results

Europe

  Estonia

Main article: Estonia national football team 2002

  Sweden

Main article: Sweden men's national football team 2002

South America

  Bolivia

Main article: Bolivia national football team 2002

  Chile

Main article: Chile national football team 2002

  Ecuador

Main article: Ecuador national football team 2002

Births

• 1 January – Simon Adingra, Ivorian international ^[1]
• 7 January – Mohamed Daramy, Danish international ^[2]
• 16 January – Bagas Kaffa, Indonesian youth international
• 18 January – Karim Adeyemi, German international ^[3]
• 23 January
  • Leonardo Bia, Italian footballer ^[4]
  • Maxime Vandelannoitte, Belgian footballer ^[5]
• 28 January – Jin Liangkuan, Chinese footballer ^[6]
• 30 January – Marco Di Cesare, Argentine club footballer ^[7]
• 31 January – Giovanni, Brazilian footballer
• 3 February – Radu Drăgușin, Romanian international ^[8]
• 15 February
  • Zuriko Davitashvili, Georgian international ^[9]
  • Gijs van Otterdijk, Dutch footballer ^[10]
• 20 February – Michael Sosa, Honduran footballer ^[11]
• 3 March – Makar Litskevich, Belarusian professional footballer ^[12]
• 10 March
  • Ian Maatsen, Dutch footballer
  • Noni Madueke, English youth international ^[13]
• 13 March – Viljami Aittokoski, Finnish footballer ^[14]
• 17 March – Theofilos Profyllidis, Greek professional footballer ^[15]
• 27 April – Anthony Elanga, Swedish international ^[16]
• 13 May – Eugenio Pizzuto, Mexican youth international ^[17]
• 14 May – Daniel Peñaloza, Colombian footballer ^[18]
• 16 May – Kenneth Taylor, Dutch international ^[19]
• 7 June – Tomáš Suslov, Slovak international ^[20]
• 19 June – Efraín Álvarez, Mexican international ^[21]
• 30 June – Friday Mbeke Godwin, Nigerian professional footballer ^[22]
• 11 July – Amad, Ivorian international ^[23]
• 13 July – Tom Bierschenk, German professional footballer ^[24]
• 25 July – Adam Hložek, Czech international ^[25]
• 30 August – Fábio Carvalho, Portuguese youth international ^[26]
• 20 October – Yeremy Pino, Spanish international ^[27]
• 22 October – Stanislav Atrashkevich, Belarusian professional footballer ^[28]
• 23 October – Elkan Baggott, Indonesian footballer
• 31 October – Ansu Fati, Spanish international ^[29]
• 10 November – Eduardo Camavinga, French international ^[30]
• 13 November – Giovanni Reyna, U.S. international ^[31]

Deaths

February

• 8 February – Zizinho, Brazilian midfielder, winner of the Best Player Award at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (80)
• 12 February – John Eriksen (44), Danish international
• 13 February – Ramón Grosso (58), Spanish player
• 16 February – Walter Winterbottom (89), English manager
• 20 February – Cristian Neamtu, Romanian player ^[32]

March

• 4 March – Velibor Vasović (62), Yugoslavian footballer

April

• 16 April – Billy Ayre (49), English footballer and manager

May

• 13 May – Valeri Lobanovsky (63), Ukrainian footballer and manager

June

• 17 June – Fritz Walter (81), German World cup winning (1954) footballer

July

• 25 July – Hans Dorjee (60), Dutch footballer and manager

August

• 8 August – Reiner Geye (52), German footballer

September

• 17 September – Edvaldo Alves de Santa Rosa, Brazilian forward, winner of the 1958 FIFA World Cup. (68)
• 22 September – Julio Pérez, Uruguayan striker, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (76)

October

• 24 October – Hermán Gaviria (32), Colombian footballer

November

• 1 November – Lester Morgan (26), Costa Rican footballer
• 9 November – Eusebio Tejera, Uruguayan defender, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (80)
• 12 November – Raoul Diagne (92), French footballer
• 13 November – Juan Alberto Schiaffino, Uruguayan forward, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup, ranked as the best Uruguayan footballer of all time by an IFFHS poll. (77)

Movies

• Bend It Like Beckham (UK)

References

1. Simon Adingra
2. "Mohamed Daramy". fck.dk. Coppenhagen FC.
3. "K. Adeyemi". soccerway.com. Soccer way.
4. "Leonardo Bia". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
5. "Maxime Vandelannoitte". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
6. "Jin Liangkuan". FBref.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
7. "M. Di Cesare". soccerway.com. Soccer way.
8. "Radu Matei Drăgușin". eu.football.info. European Football information.
9. "Z. Davitashvili". soccerway.com. Soccer Way.
10. "Gijs van Otterdijk". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
11. "Michael Sosa". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
12. "Makar Litskevich". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
13. "N. Madueke". soccerway.com. Soccer way.
14. 2002 in association football at WorldFootball.net
15. "Theofilos Profyllidis". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
16. "Anthony Elanga Bio Information". Fox Sports. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
17. "E. Pizzuto". soccerway.com. Soccer Way.
18. "Daniel Peñaloza". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 15 February 2024.
19. "K. Taylor". soccerway.com. Soccer Way.
20. "T. Suslov". soccerway.com. Soccer Way.
21. "E. Álvarez". soccerway.com. Soccer way.
22. 2002 in association football at WorldFootball.net
23. "Amad Diallo". Premier League . Retrieved 15 January 2021.
24. 2002 in association football at WorldFootball.net
25. "Adam Hložek". soccerway.com. Soccer Way.
26. "Fábio Carvalho Liverpool Midfielder, Profile & Stats". Premier League. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
27. "Yeremy Pino". bdfutbol.com. BD Futbool.
28. "Stanislav Atrashkevich". worldfootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL Medien GmbH & Co. KG. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
29. "Ansu Fati Biography". ESPN. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
30. "Eduardo Camavinga". ESPN. Retrieved 28 November 2022.
31. "Giovanni Reyna" (in German). Borussia Dortmund. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
32. Deceased soccer players – Cristian Neamtu