The 2002 CONCACAF Champions' Cup was the 37th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the CONCACAF region (North America, Central America and the Caribbean), the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. It featured a league format with 16 clubs. As part of the expansion, the quarterfinal stage for the current Champions Cup was moved to the first months of the 2002. Those clubs that had already qualified for the quarterfinal stage of the 2001 CONCACAF Champions' Cup were moved directly into the new league format.
To facilitate the shift to the new cycle of qualifying rounds in the latter half of one year and the league stage in the first half of the following, the decision was taken to use the current competition as the transition period and fold those clubs already qualified into the league format.
In addition, the winner and runner-up of the 2001 CONCACAF Giants Cup (Club América and D.C. United) was also merged into the first edition to provide both of those clubs the opportunity to compete for a spot in the 2003 FIFA Club World Championship, as they would have done under the previous competition system. This was convenient, as one of the qualifying MLS teams, Miami Fusion F.C., was folded after the 2001 season despite winning the MLS Supporters' Shield that year.CONCACAF Champions' Cup 2002 on the RSSSF
Club Comunicaciones, Tauro FC and Alajuelense, were elected as the top Central American non-qualifiers for the 2001 CONCACAF Champions Cup and finally the 2001 MLS Cup champions San Jose Earthquakes and the Mexican 2001 Invierno season champions Pachuca. Originally, four groups of four teams each, to be drawn in December or January, were planned, but at the end of November, CONCACAF changed plans once again and decided to play the tournament in a two-legs knock-out format, without a group stage. Because of this, the tournament's name was changed from CONCACAF Champions League back to CONCACAF Champions Cup.
The two finalists were supposed to qualify for the cancelled 2003 FIFA Club World Championship. Mexican club Pachuca beat countryfellow Morelia 1–0 in the final to win their first CONCACAF trophy.2002 Concacaf Cup Legado Glorioso, Copa Concacaf 2002 by Héctor Gómez on Vavel, 2 Feb 2018
Qualified teams
North American zone Morelia – 2000 Invierno champion Pachuca – 2001 Invierno champion Santos Laguna – 2001 Verano champion Club América – 2001 Giants Cup champion Kansas City Wizards – 2000 MLS Cup champion and 2000 MLS Supporters' Shield winner Chicago Fire – 2000 MLS Cup runner-up San Jose Earthquakes – 2001 MLS Cup champion D.C. United – 2001 Giants Cup runner-up
Central American zone Municipal – UNCAF champion Saprissa – UNCAF runner-up Olimpia – UNCAF third place Comunicaciones – UNCAF fourth place Tauro – UNCAF semifinal qualifier Alajuelense – UNCAF semifinal qualifier
Caribbean zone Defence Force – 2001 CFU Club Championship finalist W Connection – 2001 CFU Club Championship finalist
Bracket
First round First leg and Second leg matches were played between February 3, 2002, and March 27, 2002.
Alajuelense win 3-0 on aggregate
Comunicaciones win 5-2 on aggregate
Pachuca win 5-0 on aggregate
San Jose win 4-1 on aggregate
Morelia win 3-1 on aggregate
Chicago Fire win 3-0 on aggregate
Santos win 5-3 on aggregate
Kansas City win 3-0 on aggregate
Quarterfinals First leg and Second leg matches were played between April 14, 2002, and April 24, 2002.
Kansas City win 3-2 on aggregate
Alajuelense win 6-2 on aggregate
Pachuca win 3-1 on aggregate
Morelia win 3-2 on aggregate
Semifinals First leg and Second leg matches were played between August 7, 2002, and August 28, 2002.
Pachuca won 2–1 on aggregate.
Morelia won 7–2 on aggregate.
Final
GK Miguel Fuentes DF Omar Trujillo DF Heriberto Morales DF Darío Franco DF Javier Saavedra MF José A. Noriega MF Jorge Almirón MF Mario Ruiz MF Carlos Morales FW Adolfo Bautista FW Alex FernandesSubstitutions: MF Ismael Iñiguez FW Martín Gómez MF Hernán Buján Manager: Rubén Omar Romano
GK 1 Miguel Calero DF 2 Alberto Rodríguez DF 5 Francisco de Anda DF Jesús López Meneses DF 25 Marco Sánchez DF Manuel Vidrio MF Fausto Pinto MF Ángel Sosa MF 11 Cesáreo Victorino MF Andrés Chitiva FW 9 Walter Silvani FW Sergio SantanaSubstitutes: FW Juan Arango Manager: Alfredo Tena
Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals1 Alex Fernandes Morelia 4 Juan Arango C.F. Pachuca 43 Dema Kovalenko Chicago Fire 3 Milton Núñez Comunicaciones 3 Eduardo Lillingston Santos Laguna 36 Pedro Jiménez Santos Laguna 2 Sandro Alfaro LD Alajuelense 2 Erick Jimenez LD Alajuelense 2 Chris Brown Kansas City Wizards 2 Wilmer Lopez LD Alajuelense 2 Franz Torres Morelia 2 Antonio Gonzalez Morelia 2 Andrés Chitiva C.F. Pachuca 2 Sergio Santana C.F. Pachuca 2 Walter Silvani C.F. Pachuca 2
References