2001/02: Van Hooijdonk fires up Feyenoord
Saturday, June 1, 2002
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Pierre van Hooijdonk scored twice before half-time and Jon Dahl Tomasson struck the clincher as Feyenoord lifted their first European trophy in 28 years at their own stadium in a fine final against BV Borussia Dortmund.
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Feyenoord 3-2 BV Borussia Dortmund
(Van Hooijdonk 33p 40, Tomasson 50; Amoroso 47p; Koller 58)
Feyenoord Stadium, Rotterdam
Feyenoord proved that good things really do come those who wait when, 28 years after their last European success, they lifted the UEFA Cup in May 2002. Not only did they beat the German champions BV Borussia Dortmund 3-2 in a thrilling final; they also got to do so at their own Feyenoord stadium.
Bert van Marwijk's side, like Dortmund, had started the season in the UEFA Champions League, but qualified for the UEFA Cup having finished third in their group. Thereafter they did not lose a game. SC Freiburg, Rangers FC, PSV Eindhoven – in a penalty shoot-out in the quarter-finals – and FC Internazionale Milano were the teams that had to give way. All the while the goals, mostly free-kicks, continued to fly in from Pierre van Hooijdonk.
The talismanic striker had scored six by the time the Dortmund tie came along, but none as vital as his first against Matthias Sammer's men. Van Hooijdonk's 31st-minute penalty followed the sending-off of Jürgen Kohler for a professional foul and was a blow from which the 1. Bundesliga side never recovered. One soon became two, and while Dortmund registered twice in the second half, the goals from Marcio Amoroso and Jan Koller sandwiched the decisive effort by Feyenoord's Jon Dahl Tomasson.