Ebbe Sand is a former professional footballer from Denmark who played as a forward for Brøndby IF in Denmark and FC Schalke 04 in Germany. He was the Bundesliga top scorer in 2001, and won the DFB-Pokal in 2001 and 2002 with Schalke. On the international stage, he represented the Denmark national team at the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cup, as well as the 2000 and 2004 European Championships. At the 1998 World Cup, he scored the fastest-ever World Cup goal by a substitute – 16 seconds after entering the match.
Gerald Asamoah is a German football manager and former professional player who works as the first-team manager of Schalke 04.
Victor Okechukwu Agali is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Eka Basunga Lokonda "Émile" Mpenza is a Belgian former footballer who played as a striker. He has been capped at international level by Belgium. His older brother, Mbo, also represented Belgium.
Tomasz Nikodem Hajto is a Polish expert commentator, sports agent, football coach and retired professional footballer.
Jörg Böhme is a German former footballer who played as midfielder, and who most recently was the manager of Energie Cottbus.
Michaël Goossens is a Belgian retired footballer who played as a striker.
Gustavo Antonio Varela Rodríguez is a Uruguayan former footballer. He was a versatile right sided player who also could "be played as a lone striker, behind the front two" or at the heart of midfield.
Niels Oude Kamphuis is a retired Dutch footballer. He is best remembered for his time at Schalke 04. He operated mostly as a defensive midfielder.
FC Schalke 04 failed to challenge for the Bundesliga title, and did not make it past the group stage in the Champions League, resulting in coach Huub Stevens resigning following the end of the season. A consolation prize was winning the German Cup following a dramatic 4–2 victory over Bayer Leverkusen.
SV Werder Bremen improved one position upon its 2000–01 position, ultimately finishing 6th in the championship. Key players Frank Rost and Torsten Frings departed for Bundesliga opposition in the summer of 2002, resulting in lowered expectations, especially since club legend Marco Bode decided to retire from professional football.
VfB Stuttgart reached the UEFA Champions League for the first time in more than ten years, following a surprising runner-up position in Bundesliga. Coach Felix Magath was hailed as the man behind the success, in his second full season at the helm, managing to unite a squad with lesser-known players to form a side strong enough to overhaul reigning champions Borussia Dortmund for the automatic qualification spot. It was also the breakthrough season of exciting young talents such as Alexander Hleb, Timo Hildebrand and Kevin Kurányi.
Borussia Dortmund played the 2002–03 season in the Bundesliga. Aside from failing to retain the Bundesliga title, Dortmund failed to reach the Champions League knockout phase, despite winning away from home against eventual champions Milan. In the end, finishing third in Bundesliga was enough to go into the qualifying phase of the Champions League for the coming season.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen had a shocking season, in which it went from being in the final of the UEFA Champions League the previous season, to finish 15th in Bundesliga, only just escaping relegation to the second tier. It also went out of the Champions League in the second group stage, not even clinching a single point.
Hamburger SV nearly qualified for the Champions League, only just falling short to Borussia Dortmund. Given that HSV had been mired in the midfield for the last few seasons, the season was regarded as a successful one.
SV Werder Bremen retained its 6th place in Bundesliga with a solid season, in spite of key players Frank Rost and Torsten Frings leaving prior to the season. Coach Thomas Schaaf bought Johan Micoud as replacement for Frings, with the French ex-Parma player making an instant impact in Germany, while Ailton once again hit 16 goals, finishing third in the goal scoring charts.
VfB Stuttgart had an average season in its first season under Felix Magath. It finished 8th in Bundesliga, qualifying for the Intertoto Cup. The season also saw Stuttgart breaking its transfer record, when the club signed Fernando Meira for € 7.5 million.
Schalke 04 had one of its best ever seasons, winning the German Cup. They almost won the league too, hindered only by a late Patrik Andersson free kick for Bayern Munich in stoppage time against Hamburg. Nonetheless, Schalke still qualified for the Champions League for the first time.
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 Schalke 04 had another disappointing season, in spite of the success of new stadium and UEFA Champions League final host Arena AufSchalke. Within weeks in the autumn, Schalke's chances of winning a trophy was slashed, losing to Brøndby in the UEFA Cup and a humiliating collapse to Freiburg in the extra time of the domestic cup, losing 7–3. The seventh position in the league also ensured Schalke had to go through the Intertoto Cup to reach European competitions, putting further pressure on coach Jupp Heynckes.
