The 2002 Euro Beach Soccer League, was the fifth edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the premier beach soccer competition contested between European men's national teams, known as the European Pro Beach Soccer League at the time, occurring annually since its establishment in 1998. The league was organised by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) between June 1 and September 7, 2002 in nine different nations across Europe.
This season BSWW introduced Divisions to the EBSL for the first time; the nations of the league were split into two groups based on similar levels of ability. These groups were known as the Southern and Northern groups, named so after the roughly similar geographical locations in Europe the nations in the respective divisions could be found. The Southern group consisted of the best 4 nations of the EBSL and was considered as the top division. Whilst the Northern group consisted of the other teams of lesser ability and was considered the lower division of the two. The difference in abilities of the two divisions was reflected in there being less Superfinal qualification spots available for the Northern group.
Each team competed in their respective division/group to try and earn a place in the season-finale event, the Superfinal, in which the league title was then contested directly.
Spain entered the competition as three-time defending champions. However it was Portugal, who having finished runners-up in the league for the last two years, finally found success and claimed their maiden European title by beating the Spanish in the final.
The league also doubled as the qualification process for the 2003 Beach Soccer World Championship. The nations finishing in first, second and third place qualified.
Teams This season 10 nations took part in the Euro Beach Soccer League whom were and were distributed as follows. Despite the names of the groups following the rough geographical locations of the teams in Europe, Turkey was a notably clear exception in the "Northern" group.
Southern Group (Top Division, 4)
Northern Group (Lower Division, 6)
Superfinal berths Following on from the maiden Superfinal last season, the season-ending event was expanded from four teams to six teams. The table summarises in what positions nations needed to finish in their respective divisions/groups in order to qualify to the Superfinal and what round of the Superfinal they would enter finishing in said positions.
Allocations:
The amount of qualification spots available in the Superfinal from each division reflected the abilities of the nations in the respective groups.
The Southern Group, consisting of the best teams of the EBSL, was awarded four Superfinal berths (with only four teams in the group, all teams automatically qualified - the teams played in their group to try and finish in the top two positions in order to earn the two berths straight into the Superfinal semi-finals) The Northern Group, in being considered the lower division, received just two berths #Position in DivisionGroupRound entered1Winner Southern Semi-finals2Runner-up3Third place Quarter-finals4Fourth place5Winner Northern6Runner-up
Southern Group (Top Division) The Southern Group consisted of four rounds of fixtures known as stages, with one stage hosted in each of the four countries participating as shown. All four teams took part in each. In each stage, the teams played each other once. The nation who earned the most points at the end of the stage was crowned stage winners.
At the end of the four stages all results were tallied up in a final league table.
Stage 1 The first stage took place in Marseille, France. Spain finished as victors in the opening round.
Matches 5 July 2002 6–7 4–6 6 July 2002 3–6 6–2 7 July 2002 2–3 4–8
Final standings Team13300159+69232011812+66331021115–43430031321–80 AwardsBest player: NicoTop scorer(s): Alan, Amarelle (6 goals each)Best goalkeeper: Roberto Valerio
Stage 2 The second stage took place in Carcavelos, Portugal. The hosts claimed their first stage of the season.
Matches 12 July 2002 3–1 2–3 13 July 2002 9–6 4–3 14 July 2002 1–4 4–1
Final standings Team13300168+892311189–15331021213–1343003511–60 AwardsBest player: AlanTop scorer(s): Alan (6 goals)Best goalkeeper: Marco Cesarini
Stage 3 The third stage took place in Rome, Italy. Portugal followed up their first stage win with a second crown here.
Matches 19 July 2002 3–8 6–4 20 July 2002 5–4 2–9 21 July 2002 7–5 3–2
Final standings Team13300188+109231021411+33331021222–103430121417–32 AwardsBest player: AlanTop scorer(s): Amarelle (10 goals)Best goalkeeper: Zé Miguel
Stage 4 The fourth stage took place in El Arenal, Mallorca, Spain. The final stage was claimed by France.
Matches 26 July 2002 5–5 2–1 (pens.) 5–3 27 July 2002 2–3 7–8 28 July 2002 4–3 4–2
Final standings Team131201714+37232011614+263310211110343003712–50 AwardsBest player: Claude BarrabéTop scorer(s): Alan (6 goals)Best goalkeeper: Roberto Valerio
Final table All four teams automatically qualified to the Superfinal. Finishing first and second earned those teams byes straight into the semi-finals of the Superfinal, whilst the lower positioned teams in third and fourth were entered into the quarter-finals
Portugal were crowned winners of the group and earned the bye into the Superfinal semi-finals along with runners-up Spain.
TeamQualification1129036339+2427Advance to Superfinal semi-finals2127145343+10233122375665–912Advance to Superfinal quarter-finals41220103560–256
Northern Group (Lower Division) The Northern consisted of six rounds of fixtures known as stages, which commenced before the matches of the Southern Group. Of the nations competing, Austria hosted two stages, England, Switzerland and Turkey one, whilst Norway and Germany did not host any stage (despite Düsseldorf originally scheduled to host a round of fixtures). The remaining stage was held in a neutral country, France. Four of the six teams took part in each stage, with each team taking part in a total of four stages. In every round of fixtures the teams played each other once. The nation who earned the most points at the end of the stage was crowned stage winners.
At the end of the six stages all results were tallied up in a final league table.
Stage 1 The first stage took place in Brighton, England. The Swiss won the first stage crown.
Matches 1 June 2002 4–3 5–4 2 June 2002 1–5 5–4 3 June 2002 5–9 2–3
Final standings Team133001910+99232011211+1633102711–43430031218–60 AwardsBest player: Jorn A. Larsen Top scorer(s): Angelo Schirinzi, Jorn A. Larsen (5 goals)Best goalkeeper: Stefan Knutti
Stage 2 The second stage took place in Alanya, Turkey. Switzerland won their second consecutive stage.
Matches 12 July 2002 9–1 6–6 2–1 (pens.) 13 July 2002 5–2 11–5 14 July 2002 2–4 4–5
Final standings Team132012113+86231111513+25331021310+33431021124–133 AwardsBest player: Tamer AyTop scorer(s): Angelo Schirinzi (8 goals)Best goalkeeper: Klaus Lindenberger
Stage 3 The third stage took place in Basel, Switzerland. Turkey were crowned stage champions based on their head-to-head record with Germany.
Matches 19 July 2002 5–4 9–7 20 July 2002 4–3 4–621 July 2002 9–5 4–6
Final standings Team131201511+47232011914+56331021719–23430031522–70 AwardsBest player: Reto BaumgartnerTop scorer(s): Mano Pölking (10 goals)Best goalkeeper: Michael Serr
Stage 4 The fourth stage took place in Linz, Austria. The hosts finished with their first stage win of the season.
Matches 2 August 2002 5–4 6–2 3 August 2002 9–8 5–64 August 2002 6–4 10–2
Final standings Team133002414+109232011417–36331021619–33430031317–52 AwardsBest player: Uwe BeinTop scorer(s): Uwe Bein (9 goals)Best goalkeeper: Klaus Lindenberger
Stage 5 The fifth stage took place in Kitzbühel, Austria. Turkey won the stage based on their head-to-head record with Norway, whilst Austria finished ahead of Germany also based on head-to-head records.
Matches 16 August 2002 6–10 7–917 August 2002 7–8 7–7 2–1 (pens.) 18 August 2002 11–8 7–5
Final standings Team131112221+15231112220+25331022426–23431022425–13 AwardsBest player: Uwe BeinTop scorer(s): Mano Pölking, Jürgen Werner (9 goals)Best goalkeeper: Marius Haugland
Stage 6 The sixth and final stage took place in Palavas-les-Flots, France. Austria claimed the final stage of the Northern Group.
Matches 30 August 2002 7–4 7–6 31 August 2002 2–10 7–4 1 September 2002 7–12 12–10
Final standings Team133002615+119232012619+76331022125–43430031529–140 AwardsBest player: Tamer AyTop scorer(s): Angelo Schirinzi (16 goals)Best goalkeeper: Klaus Lindenberger
Final table The top two teams qualified to the Superfinal, entering at the quarter-final stage. The remaining nations exited this season's EBSL.
Austria were narrowly crowned winners, with runners-up Turkey ousting Switzerland by a similarly slim margin to also successfully qualify for the season-ending event.
TeamQualification1128048765+2224Advance to Superfinal quarter-finals2125437864+14233127057867+11214126067169+2185124084781–341261211106277–155
Superfinal Qualified teams This is a summary of the teams who qualified for the Superfinal. #TeamGroupRound entered1Southern Semi-finals23 Quarter-finals4 5 Northern6
Results Dates: 5–7 September 2002 Location: Monte Carlo, Monaco This season the Superfinal was played as a straight knockout tournament. Four of the six teams contesting the title started in the quarter-finals, whilst the top two nations from the Southern Group received a bye and started in the semi-finals. The teams played one match per round until the final when the winner of the 2002 Euro Beach Soccer League was crowned. The losers of the quarter and semi-finals played in consolation matches to determine their final league placements.
In the quarter-finals the Southern and Northern group qualifiers were kept apart; one tie involved the two qualifiers from the Northern Group playing against each other, whilst the other tie had the two qualifiers from the Southern Group playing one another. Finishing in the top two of the top tier, Portugal had a bye straight into the semis. However, as winners of the Southern Group, Portugal were also rewarded with getting to play the weaker of the two quarter-final winners, the winner of the all-Northern tie, in the semi-finals. Whilst Spain, as runners-up of the Southern Group, did not earn this luxury and had to play the harder-on-paper winner of the all-Southern quarter-final.
Championship match details
Winners
AwardsBest player: AmarelleTop scorer(s): Tamer Ay, Frank Bonora (9 goals)Best goalkeeper: Pascal Olmeta
Superfinal final standings Portugal beat Spain in the final to win their first Euro Beach Soccer League title at their fifth attempt, and end Spain's run of three successive EPBSL titles.
Finishing in the top three positions also earned those nations qualification straight into the upcoming World Cup.
TeamNotesQualification1 EBSL Champions Qualified to 2003 Beach Soccer World Championship2 Runners-up3Third place4 56
Sources
Roonba BSWW archive RSSSF