2001–02 AFC Ajax season

AFC Ajax

2001–02 season
Manager	Co Adriaanse (until 29 November) Ronald Koeman
Stadium	Amsterdam Arena
Eredivisie	1st
KNVB Cup	Winners
Champions League	Third qualifying round
UEFA Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	Rafael van der Vaart (14)
Home colours Away colours

During the 2001–02 Dutch football season, AFC Ajax competed in the Eredivisie.

Season summary

Manager Co Adriaanse was sacked in late November after some poor results, including elimination from the Champions League and UEFA Cup. His replacement, Ronald Koeman, led Ajax to the league and cup double.

Players

First-team squad

Squad at end of season[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  NED Fred Grim 2 DF  NED Ferdi Vierklau 3 DF  NOR André Bergdølmo 4 MF  CZE Tomáš Galásek 5 DF  ROU Cristian Chivu 6 DF  TUN Hatem Trabelsi 7 MF  NED Andy van der Meyde 8 MF  NED Jan van Halst 9 FW  SWE Zlatan Ibrahimović 10 FW  NED Richard Knopper 11 FW  EGY Mido 12 GK  AUS Joey Didulica[notes 1] 13 DF  BRA Maxwell

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 DF  NED Tim de Cler 16 DF  FIN Petri Pasanen 17 FW  BRA Wamberto 18 DF  USA John O'Brien 19 FW  GRE Nikos Machlas 20 FW  NED Cedric van der Gun 21 DF  NED John Heitinga 22 MF  GHA Abubakari Yakubu 23 MF  NED Rafael van der Vaart 25 FW  NGA Pius Ikedia 26 MF  COL Daniel Cruz 27 MF  RSA Steven Pienaar 31 GK  NED Maarten Stekelenburg

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 GK  ROU Bogdan Lobonț (on loan to Dinamo București) 8 MF  NED Richard Witschge (on loan to Deportivo Alavés)

No. Pos. Nation Player 9 FW  GEO Shota Arveladze (to Rangers)

Jong Ajax

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 DF  NED Mitchell Piqué

No. Pos. Nation Player 30 MF  NED Stefano Seedorf

Results

UEFA Champions League

Third qualifying round

• 15 August: Ajax 1-3 Celtic (Arveladze; Petta, Agathe, Sutton)
• 29 August: Celtic 0-1 Ajax

UEFA Cup

First round

• Ajax 3–0 Apollon Limassol
• Apollon Limassol 0-2 Ajax

Second round

• Copenhagen 0–0 Ajax
• Ajax 0-1 Copenhagen

References

1. "FootballSquads - Ajax - 2001/02".

Notes

1. Didulica was born in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, and represented Australia at U-23 level, but also qualified to represent Croatia internationally through his parents and made his international debut for Croatia in 2004.