The 2002–03 AFC Champions League was the twenty-second edition of Asia's premier
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
competition organised by the
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in some countries/territories in Asia and Oceania. It has 47 member countries most of which are located in Asia. Australia, formerly in ...
, and the first edition under the
AFC Champions League
The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...
title.
Sixteen teams competed in this edition as they went through qualifying before going into four groups of four with only the winner of the group qualifying to the knockout-stage which went to two-legs instead of the single leg that the previous year competition had. In the final it was
Al-Ain
Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is bordered to the east by the Omani ...
of the United Arab Emirates beating
BEC Tero Sasana of Thailand 2–1 on aggregate.
Qualification
West Asia
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Al-Talaba
*
Al Sadd
Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in th ...
*
Al-Hilal
*
Al-Ain
Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. It is bordered to the east by the Omani ...
Central and Southern Asia
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Esteghlal
*
Pirozi
*
Nisa Aşgabat
*
Pakhtakor
East Asia
*
Dalian Shide
Dalian Shide was a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning province, China who played in China's football league system between 1955 and 2012. Their home stadiums were the 55,843 capacity Dalian People's Stadium and then lat ...
*
Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...
*
Kashima Antlers
are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...
*
Shimizu S-Pulse
is a professional Japanese football club. Located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, S-Pulse currently competes in the J2 League (J2). The club was formed in 1991 as a founding member of the J.League (''"Original Ten"''), which began ...
*
Daejeon Citizen
Daejeon Hana Citizen Football Club (Korean 대전 하나 시티즌 축구단) is a South Korean professional football team based in Daejeon that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. At the time of its foundation in 19 ...
*
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...
ASEAN
*
BEC Tero Sasana
*
Osotsapa FC
Super Power Samut Prakan Football Club ( th, สโมสรฟุตบอลซุปเปอร์พาวเวอร์ สมุทรปราการ) was a Thai football club based in Samut Prakan province. This club played in the ...
Group stage
Group A
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Group B
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Group C
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Group D
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Knock-out stage
Bracket
Semi-finals
First leg
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Second leg
''BEC Tero Sasana won 3–2 on aggregate.''
----
''Al-Ain won 7–6 on aggregate.''
Final
First leg
Second leg
''Al-Ain won 2–1 on aggregate.''
Top scorers
;9
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Hao Haidong
Hao Haidong (; born 9 May 1970) is a Chinese former international footballer. He currently holds the record for being China's top goalscorer.
As a player he represented Bayi Football Team, Dalian Shide and Sheffield United in a career that saw ...
(
Dalian Shide
Dalian Shide was a professional Chinese football club based in Dalian, Liaoning province, China who played in China's football league system between 1955 and 2012. Their home stadiums were the 55,843 capacity Dalian People's Stadium and then lat ...
)
;4
*
Boubacar Sanogo
Boubacar Sanogo (born 17 December 1982) is an Ivorian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Club career
Born in Dimbokro in the Ivory Coast, Sanogo started his career in Tunisia and then went to Al-Ain FC in the UAE League, ...
(
Al Ain
Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tawam (region), Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al-Ain Region, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ...
)
*
Therdsak Chaiman (
BEC Tero Sasana)
;3
*
Patrick Suffo
Patrick Hervé Suffo Kengné (born 17 January 1978) is a Cameroonian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker.
Club career
Suffo was born in Ebolowa, Cameroon. He played in Fra ...
(
Al-Hilal)
*
Mohammad Omar (
Al Ain
Al Ain ( ar, ٱلْعَيْن, , ) is a city in the western side of Tawam (region), Tuwwam region and the seat of the administrative division of its namesake, Al-Ain Region, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. ...
)
*
Ali Samereh
Ali Samereh ( fa, علی سامره; born November 23, 1977) is an Iranian football coach and former player. He played for Iranian clubs Fajr Sepasi, Esteghlal and Mes Kerman, for Italian side Perugia, and for UAE clubs Al-Shaab and Ajman. He us ...
(
Esteghlal)
*
Anvarjon Soliev
Anvarjon Soliev (born 5 February 1978) is a retired Uzbekistani football striker and football coach.
Early life
He was born in To‘raqo‘rg‘on, Turakurgan of Namangan region.
Career Navbahor Namangan
Firstly he played in Yoshlik footbal ...
(
Pakhtakor)
*
Kim Dae-eui (
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...
)
*
Kim Do-hoon
Kim Do-hoon (; born 21 July 1970) is a South Korean professional football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Singaporean club Lion City Sailors before his 11 August 2022 resignation.
Playing career
Kim during h ...
(
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma
Seongnam () is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. Seongnam is a satellite city of Seoul. It is largely a residential city ...
)
*
Saul Martínez (
Shanghai Shenhua
Shanghai Shenhua F.C. () is a Chinese professional football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The term ''shen hua'' literally translates as "the Flower of Shanghai" in ...
)
*
Ahn Jung-hwan (
Shimizu S-Pulse
is a professional Japanese football club. Located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, S-Pulse currently competes in the J2 League (J2). The club was formed in 1991 as a founding member of the J.League (''"Original Ten"''), which began ...
)
Notes
External links
AFC Champions League 2002/03AFC Champions League 2002/03 - Final stage
{{DEFAULTSORT:2002-03 AFC Champions League
2002-03
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