FIFA World Cup 2002

The FIFA World Cup 2002 was staged in Japan and Korea. It was the first time in history that Asian countries were chosen to host the tournament. During the first rounds of the World Cup 2002 there were a lot of surprises as African teams such asSenegal upset heavy favored France. Senegal ended up making it all the way to the quarter finals before being defeated by Turkey. Another upset occurred when the United States national soccer team beat Portugal by a score of 3-2. However the biggest match of the opening rounds of the 2002 World Cup was Argentina vs. England as they competed in order to advanced past the group of death.

During the knockout rounds of the tournament co host Korea tried their best in order to stay in the FIFA World Cup 2002. After defeating Italy 2-1 and Spain in a penalty kick shoot out, the Korean National Team lost to Germany and was not able to advance into the next round of the FIFA 2002 World Cup.

The Brazilian National Team and Germany were having better luck in the tournament. Germany got three consecutive 1-0 victories in order to advance into the finals of the FIFA World Cup 2002. Brazilian strikers Ronaldo, who became the top scorer of the 2002 FIFA World Cup with 8 goals and won the Golden Boot Award, and Kaka, led their country in the finals of the 2002 World Cup.

The Finals

The final of the FIFA World Cup 2002 was held in Yokohama, Japan at International Stadium, as the Brazilians faced the Germans for the most prestigious trophy in international football. Ronaldo, “The Phenomenon”, teamed up with Rivaldo in order to score twice past German Goalie Oliver Kahn. The Brazilians ended up winning their fifth World Cup, as they defeated German by a score of 2-0 in the World Cup 2002.