2002 UEFA Cup final
The 2002 UEFA Cup Final was played on 8 May, 2002, between Feyenoord Rotterdam of the Netherlands and Borussia Dortmund of Germany. The final was held in Feijenoord Stadion and as a result most spectators inside the stadium were Feyenoord fans. Previous to this match, Feyenoord had not won a European trophy since 1974, whilst Borussia Dortmund, who had already wrapped up the Fußball-Bundesliga title, were hoping to join AFC Ajax, FC Bayern Munich and Juventus F.C. in being the only clubs to win all three European trophies.
Route to the Final
Both sides entered the UEFA Cup 2001-02 in the third round, after finishing third in their Champions League Groups. Borussia were eliminated from Group B on goal difference, after getting the same points as Boavista F.C. Feyenoord were eliminated from Group H, after finishing six points behind AC Sparta Praha.
Borrusia Dortmund
Dortmund were drawn against F.C. Copenhagen of Denmark in the third round and won the first letg 1-0 away from home with Heiko Herrlich scoring in injury time. The second leg producesd the same result,this time Jan Derek Sørensen scored in the 89th minute to secure Dortmund a place in the fourth round. In the fourth round Dortmund were drawn against Lille OSC of France, who had also joined the UEFA Cup, after finishing third in their champions league group. Dortmund played the first leg away from home and got an away goal, after a 1-1 draw. Dortmund had opened the scoring in the 67th minute when Éwerthon pounced on a rebound, however the lead only lasted 5 minutes, as Salaheddine Bassir scored a half volley on 72 minutes to give Lille hope going into the second leg in Dortmund. In a rain soaked second leg at the Westfalenstadion, Borrusia managed to scrape a 0-0 draw to go through to the quarter finals on the away goal rule.
Borrusia were drawn against Slovan Liberec of the Czech Republic in the quarter finals, and after a 0-0 draw in Prague, they won their second leg 4-0, after goals from Márcio Amoroso on 51 minutes, Jan Koller on 57 minutes, Lars Ricken on 70 minutes, and finally Éwerthon on 89 minutes. Borrusia faced stronger opponents in the semi-finals when they were drawn with the then 5 times champions of Europe; A.C. Milan. However, Borrusia blitzed the first leg winning 4-0, after a hat trick from Márcio Amoroso, and a goal on 63 minutes from Jörg Heinrich, even AC Milan manager Carlo Ancelotti, admitted he was not surprised with the result, stating that; "We knew they had quick strikers. I am more surprised by the terrible performance of our team. The problem stemmed from the wings. I had no reason to change the team because Rui Costa has not trained for ten days. It will be very difficult but it is our duty to give it our best and to try and qualify."[1] In the second leg AC Milan won 3-1, with Filippo Inzaghi, and Cosmin Contra scoring within 18 minutes, however Milan did not get their third goal until injury time when Serginho scored, however still needing one goal to force extra time, Dortmund put the tie beyond doubt when Lars Ricken scored in the fourth minute of injury time.
Feyenoord Rotterdam
Feyenoord were drawn against SC Freiburg of Germany in the third round. Feyenoord won the first leg 1-0, after a goal from Shinji Ono on 82 minutes. The second leg was drawn 2-2, however Feyenoord came close to going out, as Freiburg took a 2-0 lead on 49 minutes due to goals from Sebastian Kehl and Levan Kobiashvili, to make the aggregate score 2-1 in Freiburg's favour. But on 57 minutes Pierre van Hooijdonk pulled a goal back, to make it 2-2 on aggregate, which would see Feyenoord going through due to the away goal rule. Feyenoord secured their place in the fourth round when Leonardo scored in the 86th minute. Feyenoord faced Rangers F.C. of Scotland in the fourth round with the tie proving to be a close affair. The first leg ended 1-1, in Glasgow, Feyenoord had gone ahead on 72 minutes through Shinji Ono, but Rangers equalised after Peter Lovenkrands was brought down by Glenn Loovens on 81 minutes. Barry Ferguson scored the subsequent penalty. The second leg in Rotterdam ended 3-2 in Feyenoord's favour, the match was notable for the sending off of one player on each side Patrick Paauwe for Feyenoord and Neil McCann for Rangers.
Feyenoord were paired with fellow Dutch side PSV Eindhoven in the quarter finals, and the tie went all the way to the wire, with Feyenoord prevailing after winning a tense penalty shootout 5-4. The first leg was drawn 1-1 with Feyenoord taking the lead in first half injury time through Pierre van Hooijdonk. PSV equalised two minutes after the restart when Mateja Kežman scored on 47 minutes. The second leg was again drawn 1-1, with PSV taking the lead on 75 minutes, when Mark van Bommel scored from outside the area. That looked to have sent PSV into the semi-finals, but with seconds remaining van Hooijdonk got on the end of Johan Elmander's cross to send the tie into extra-time. PSV were reduced to ten men in extra time when Mark van Bommel was sent off for a second bookable offence, they still managed to last the extra 30 minutes to force a penalty shootout. All penalties were converted until Giorgi Gakhokidze stepped up, and saw his penalty saved, Feyenoord converted their subsequent penalties with van Hooijdonk putting away the vital fifth penalty. Like Borrusia, Feyenoord faced opposition from Milan, in the shape of F.C. Internazionale Milano. Feyenoord won the first leg 1-0 to gain a vital away goal after Iván Córdoba scored an own goal. The second leg started well for Feyenoord after going 2-0 up inside 34 minutes, due to goals from van Hooijdonk and Jon Dahl Tomasson, to put Feyenoord 3-0 up on agrregate. Inter came back into the tie in the last minutes when they pulled two goals back through Javier Zanetti and Mohamed Kallon, it was too little too late, as Feyenoord booked their place in the final with a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Match Summary
The match was the last for Borussia Dortmund veteran Jürgen Kohler, who was retiring after this match, however the match did not go as intended as he was sent off after 31 minutes. The sides had met twice before in European competition, drawing on both occasions in the 1999/00 Champions League. Borussia Dortmund were also boosted before kick-off by the news that Stefan Reuter had passed a late fitness test on his injured back. The first shot on goal was registered by Bonaventure Kalou, who forced a comfortable save out of Jens Lehmann. After ten minutes, Shinji Ono spotted Lehmann off his line but sent his lofted shot well wide of the target. This sparked Dortmund into life, they were thwarted when Patrick Paauwe intercepted just as Jan Koller looked to get his shot away. On 15 minutes they came even closer to breaking the deadlock when Amoroso picked out Tomáš Rosický, however he shot straight at Edwin Zoetebier. Pierre van Hooijdonk then sent one of his trademark free kicks crashing against the the right hand post on 19 minutes. Feyenoord's Tomasz Rząsa was then booked for dissent on 23 minutes, and following the resulting free kick, Evanlison came close to scoring, however he side footed his shot over the crossbar, after Éwerthon's square pass had sent him through. However the deadlock was broken on 31 minutes when Jürgen Kohler, who was playing his last game for Borussia Dortmund, pulled back Jon Dahl Tomasson in the Dortmund penalty area, Kohler was shown a red card, and van Hooijdonk converted the subsequent penalty dispatching it to Jens Lehmann's right hand side. Feyenoord made it 2-0 7 minutes later when Pierre van Hooijdonk, scored a free kick from the edge of the area, his eighth goal over the course of the season's competition.
After half time, Dortmund were handed a way back into the match when Márcio Amoroso was brought by Patrick Paauwe, however Paauwe was spared Kohler's fate as he only received a yellow card. Amoroso dispatched the following penalty and the score was 2-1. However the joy was short lived as 3 minutes later Jon Dahl Tomasson who was playing his last game for Feyenoord before his move to A.C. Milan, scored after being put through by Shinji Ono. Dorrtmund once again found a way back into the match when Jan Koller volleyed home his shot from 25 metres on 58 minutes. Dortmund now assumed the ascendancy with attack after attack, whilst Feyenoord seemed content to sit back and try and soak up pressure. Dortmund tried everything to try and find the equaliser replacing Lars Ricken with Jörg Heinrich, and Éwerthon was replaced by Otto Addo, however it was to no avail as Feyenoord saw the game out to win 3-2 and continue their amazing streak of never losing a european final.
Match details
 Feyenoord | 3 – 2 | Borussia Dortmund  |
|---|---|---|
van Hooijdonk  33' (pen.), 40' Tomasson 50' |
(Report) | Amoroso 47' (pen.) Koller 58' |
      Feyenoord
|
 Dortmund
|
See also
References
- ^ "Terrible Performance". Uefa.com. Retrieved 27 June.
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