2001–02 FC Basel season

FC Basel
2001–02 season
Chairman Switzerland René C. Jäggi
Manager Switzerland Christian Gross
Nationalliga A Champions
Swiss Cup Winners
UEFA Intertoto Cup Finalist
Top goalscorer Christian Eduardo Giménez
Highest home attendance 33,433 vs
Switzerland Grasshoppers
(02.12.2001)
33,433 vs
Switzerland Grasshoppers
(14.04.2002)
33,433 vs
Switzerland St. Gallen
(27.04.2002)
33,433 vs
Switzerland Lugano
(08.05.2002)
Lowest home attendance 17,844 vs
Switzerland Servette
(11.07.2001)
6,843 vs
Iceland Grindavík
(01.07.2001)
← 2000–01

The 2001–02 season was the Fussball Club Basel 1893's 109th season in their existence and their 8th consecutive season in the Nationalliga A, the top flight of Swiss football.

Overview

The Clubs main aim for the 2001–02 season was to win the Swiss Nationalliga A championship title. The second aim was to win the cup title. Their third aim was to stay in the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup as long as possible, if possible win the final and thus to advance to the UEFA Cup.

New with profession contracts for the new season, and brought up from their reserve team, were Philipp Degen and Marco Streller. Further, Pascal Zuberbühler returned from a one year loan with Bayer Leverkusen.[1] Basel's biggest signing for the new season were Scott Chipperfield, who came from Wollongong Wolves,[2] and Christian Eduardo Giménez, who was signed from Lugano.[3] Basel started the season of with various warm-up matches. These included teams from the Nationalliga A and the Nationalliga B.

The Campaign

Domestic League

The Qualification Round to the League season 2002–03 was contested by twelve teams and started on 4 July 2001. The season started in the worst possible way, Basel were beaten 8–1 in the away game against FC Sion. The afore mentioned Marco Streller was to play his League debut in St. Jakob-Park being substituted in during the 66th Minute on 11 July 2001 in the 3–1 home win against Servette. Unluckily in the last minute of the game he scored an own goal.[4] It was to remain his only game for Basel in this season because he was loaned to feeder club FC Concordia Basel for the rest of the season. Christian Eduardo Giménez was to play his debut on 18 July in the 3–3 draw with St. Gallen and his first goal for the club was to follow during the 3–1 home win against the Young Boys on the 11 August. Giménez was to end the season as the top scorer in the Swiss league.

After five games Basel were straggling after achieving just one win and one draw, opposed to three defeats. Hereafter things turned for the better and despite two further defeats, and despite that these were in the two matches against the reigning title holders Grasshopper Club Zürich, Basel ended the qualification leading the league table.

The first eight teams of the qualification then competed in the Championship Playoff Round, which started in the new year. Each team took half of the points (rounded up to complete units) gained during the Qualification as Bonus with them. With ten wins and just one defeat in the first eleven games, Basel pulled away at the top of the table to win the championship three games before the end of the season.[5] Basel thus achieved their main aim for the season. This was their first title after 22 years of waiting.

Domestic Cup

Basel's clear aim for the Swiss Cup was to win the title, especially because the final was to be played in St. Jakob-Park. In the round of 32 and the round of 16 Basel were draw with an away game against lower league teams Concordia and Colombier, both games were won without conceding a goal. In the quarterfinal Zürich were beaten 4–1 away from home. The semifinal against Young Boys ended in a draw after extra time, but Basel won after penalties. The Final was won in extra time against the Grasshoppers thanks to a penalty scored by Murat Yakin after Boris Smiljanić cleared a ball on the line with his hand. Basel thus also achieved their second aim.

Europe

In the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup, which started for Basel on the first of July, Basel were drawn against Iceland's Grindavík. With two victories Basel won 5–0 on aggregate. The next round saw them matched against SC Heerenveen, a Dutch club from the Eredivisie. Again two straight wins saw Basel advance with a 5–3 aggregate. The semifinal was an all Swiss affair with local rivals Lausanne being beaten 5–2 on aggregate. The Finals were played against Aston Villa, which the Premier League team won 5–2 on aggregate. Basel achieved their minimum aim for this competition.

Club

The Management

Position Staff
Manager Switzerland Christian Gross
Assistant manager Switzerland Ruedi Zbinden
until 2 Jan. 2002[6]
Assistant manager Switzerland Fritz Schmid
from 2 Jan. 2002[6]
Fitness Coach Switzerland Harry Körner
Goalkeeper Coach Switzerland Thomas Grüter
Team Administrator Switzerland Gustav Nussbaumer
Youth Team Coach U-21 Switzerland
Youth Team co-Coach Switzerland Pascal Burger

Last updated: 2 January 2002
Source: FC Basel Marketing AG (2001). Rotblau: FC Basel 1893, Das Magazin. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISSN 1660-0878.

Other information

Chairman Switzerland Mr René C. Jäggi
Ground (capacity and dimensions) St. Jakob-Park (33,333 / 120x80 m)

Source: Homepage FCB

Players

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Switzerland GK Pascal Zuberbühler
2 Switzerland DF Massimo Ceccaroni
3 Switzerland DF Philippe Cravero
4 Switzerland DF Alexandre Quennoz
5 Germany DF Oliver Kreuzer
6 Switzerland MF Benjamin Huggel
7 Cameroon FW Jean-Michel Tchouga
8 Spain FW Carlos Varela
9 South Africa MF George Koumantarakis
10 Switzerland MF Hakan Yakin
11 Cameroon FW Hervé Tum
12 Switzerland MF Sébastien Barberis
13 Argentina FW Christian Eduardo Giménez
14 Switzerland FW Nenad Savic
No. Position Player
15 Switzerland DF Murat Yakin
16 Togo MF Yao Aziawonou
17 Switzerland MF Mario Cantaluppi
18 Switzerland GK Romain Crevoisier
19 Switzerland FW André Muff
20 Switzerland DF Iván Knez
21 Italy MF Feliciano Magro
22 Serbia MF Ivan Ergić
24 Cameroon DF Timothée Atouba
25 Switzerland GK Marcel Herzog
26 Australia MF Scott Chipperfield
28 Switzerland DF Marco Zwyssig
Switzerland FW Marco Streller
Switzerland DF Philipp Degen

Out on loan

19 Switzerland FW André Muff (to Lugano from 14 July 2001)[7]
Switzerland FW Marco Streller (to Concordia from August 2001)
Slovakia GK Miroslav König (to Concordia from 5 September 2001[8] until 15 October 2001)[9]
25 Switzerland GK Marcel Herzog (to Concordia from 15 October 2001)[9]
16 Togo MF Yao Aziawonou (to FC Thun (loan) from 21 January 2002)[10] until 12 March 2002[11]

Transfers Summer 2001

In

1 Switzerland GK Pascal Zuberbühler (from Bayer Leverkusen return after loan)[12]
25 Switzerland GK Marcel Herzog (from Concordia Basel)[13]
26 Australia MF Scott Chipperfield (from Wollongong Wolves)[2]
13 Argentina FW Christian Eduardo Giménez (from Concordia Basel)[3]

Out

21 Italy MF Feliciano Magro (to Udinese end of loan)[14]

Transfers Winter 2001-02

In

24 Cameroon DF Timothée Atouba (from Neuchâtel Xamax)[10]
28 Switzerland DF Marco Zwyssig (from FC Tirol Innsbruck)[10]

Out

20 Switzerland DF Iván Knez (contract ended[10] to Rapid Wien)[15]

Results and Fixtures

Friendlies

Pre-season/First Half Season friendlies

Winter Break/Second Half Season friendlies

Nationalliga A 2001–02

For more information, see 2001–02 Nationalliga A

Qualification Round

The Qualification Round to the League season 2002–03 was contested by twelve teams. The first eight teams of the regular season (or Qualification) were then to compete in the Championship Playoff Round. The teams in ninth to twelfth position completed with the top four teams of the Nationalliga B in a Nationalliga A/B Playoff round.

League Table Qualification

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1FC Basel2213455237+1543
2AC Lugano2211563933+638
3Grasshopper Club Zürich2211475033+1737
4FC St. Gallen229853832+635
5Servette FC229763629+734
6FC Sion2210394029+1133
7BSC Young Boys228773528+731
8FC Zürich227962427-330
9FC Aarau227692825+327
10Neuchâtel Xamax226792836-825
11Lausanne Sports2244142449-2516
12FC Lucerne2234152359-3613

Championship Playoff Round

The first eight teams of the regular season (or Qualification) competed in the Championship Playoff Round. They took half of the points (rounded up to complete units) gained in the Qualification as Bonus with them.

League Table Championship

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts (B)
1FC Basel1411033616+205522
2Grasshopper Club Zürich147522817+114519
3AC Lugano147252319+44219
4Servette FC146352523+23817
5FC Zürich146261417-33515
6FC St. Gallen144461820-23418
7BSC Young Boys144371825-73116
8FC Sion1411121035-152117

Swiss Cup

Main article: Swiss Cup

Swiss Cup 2001–02

For more information, see Swiss Cup 2001–02

UEFA Intertoto Cup

Second round

Basel won 5–0 on aggregate.

Third round

Basel won 5–3 on aggregate.

Semifinal

Basel won 5–2 on aggregate.

Final

Aston Villa won 5–2 on aggregate.

References

  1. ↑ Weber, Dominik. (2001). "FCB stellte die Mannschaft vor" (in German). football.ch. Retrieved 2001-06-25.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Weber, Dominik (2001). "FCB verpflichtet Scott Chipperfield" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2001-06-27.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Weber, Dominik. (2001). "Verpflichtung von Gimenez fast sicher" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2001-07-13.
  4. ↑ Weber, Eugen (11 July 2001). "3:1 gegen Servette Genf" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2001-07-11.
  5. ↑ Weber, D. (2002). "FCB IST SCHWEIZER MEISTER" (in German). football.ch. Retrieved 2002-04-24.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 FC Basel 1893. "Fritz Schmid neuer FCB-Assistenzstrainer" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2002-01-02.
  7. ↑ Weber, Eugen (2001). "André Muff zu Lugano" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2001-07-14.
  8. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2001). "König leihweise zu Congeli" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2001-09-05.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Weber, Dominik (2001). "König zurück zum FCB" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2001-10-15.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 FC Basel 1893. "Zwyssig und Atouba zum FC Basel" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2002-01-24.
  11. ↑ Weber, Dominik (2002). "Yao zurück zum FCB". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2002-03-12.
  12. ↑ Weber, Dominik (2001). "Trainingsauftakt mit Zubi" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2001-06-14.
  13. ↑ Weber, Dominik (2001). "Herzog dritter FCB-Goalie" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2001-06-16.
  14. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2001). "Basel trennt sich von Magro" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2001-07-01.
  15. ↑ FC Basel 1893. "Ivan Knez zu Rapid Wien" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2002-01-27.
  16. ↑ FC Basel 1893 (2001). "FCB - Lausanne abgesagt" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2001-09-11.
  17. ↑ Weber, Dominik (2002). "FCSG - FCB wegen Flutlichtausfall abgesagt!". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2002-03-06.

External links