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 – Persepolis – Júbilo Iwata – Al-Ittihad – Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma – Osotspa M-150
Europe – NK Zagreb – Brøndby – Arsenal – Lyon – Borussia Dortmund – KR – Shelbourne – Juventus – Ajax – Sporting CP – Lokomotiv Moscow – Celtic – Valencia – Djurgården – Galatasaray – Shakhtar Donetsk – Partizan
North and Central America – Ottawa Wizards (CPSL)
Verano 2002 – Club América Apertura 2002 – Club Toluca – Los Angeles Galaxy (MLS)
South America Argentina: 2001–02 Clausura – River Plate 2002–03 Apertura – Independiente Bolivia – Bolívar Brazil – Santos Colombia: 2002 Apertura - América de Cali 2002 Finalización - Independiente Medellín Ecuador – Emelec Paraguay – Libertad Uruguay – Nacional
International tournaments African Cup of Nations in Mali (19 January – 13 February 2002)
FIFA World Cup in South Korea and Japan (31 May – 30 June 2002)
National team results
Europe
South America
Births 1 January – Simon Adingra, Ivorian internationalSimon Adingra 7 January – Mohamed Daramy, Danish international 16 January – Bagas Kaffa, Indonesian youth international 18 January – Karim Adeyemi, German international 23 January 28 January – Jin Liangkuan, Chinese footballer 30 January – Marco Di Cesare, Argentine club footballer 31 January – Giovanni, Brazilian footballer 3 February – Radu Drăgușin, Romanian international 15 February Zuriko Davitashvili, Georgian international 3 March – Makar Litskevich, Belarusian footballer 10 March Ian Maatsen, Dutch footballer Noni Madueke, English youth international 27 April – Anthony Elanga, Swedish international 13 May – Eugenio Pizzuto, Mexican youth international 14 May – Daniel Peñaloza, Colombian footballer 16 May – Kenneth Taylor, Dutch international 7 June – Tomáš Suslov, Slovak international 19 June – Efraín Álvarez, Mexican international 11 July – Amad, Ivorian international 25 July – Adam Hložek, Czech international 30 August – Fábio Carvalho, Portuguese youth international 20 October – Yeremy Pino, Spanish international 22 October – Stanislav Atrashkevich, Belarusian footballer 23 October – Elkan Baggott, Indonesian footballer 31 October – Ansu Fati, Spanish international 10 November – Eduardo Camavinga, French international 13 November – Giovanni Reyna, U.S. international
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 playerDeceased soccer players – Cristian Neamtu
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 6 October – Juan Yustrich (93), Argentine goalkeeper 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