The 2003 UEFA Cup Final was played on 21 May 2003 between Celtic of Scotland and Porto of Portugal. Porto won the match 3–2 in extra time thanks to a goal from Derlei. This was also the first game to use the silver goal rule, although it did not affect the outcome of the game as Porto scored in the second half of extra-time, thus meaning the game had to be played until the end of extra-time.
History was there to be made, as prior to this game, no club in Scotland and Portugal had ever won the UEFA Cup.
The game was perhaps most remarkable for having what UEFA described at the time as "the largest travelling support to have assembled for a single game" - around 80,000 Celtic fans travelled to Seville for the final. For this turnout and the manner with which they conducted themselves, Celtic fans received an award from FIFA and UEFA, winning the FIFA Fair Play Award that year and being presented with a formal recognition from UEFA at a home match the following season.
Read more about 2003 UEFA Cup Final: Date, Venue and Officials, Match Summary
Famous quotes containing the words cup and/or final:
“The morning cup of coffee has an exhiliration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)
“Man, her last work, who seemed so fair,
Such splendid purpose in his eyes,
Who rolled the psalm to wintry skies,
Who built him fanes of fruitless prayer,
Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation’s final law—
Though Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine, shrieked against his creed—”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)