It Was Much More Than Just Another "World Cup"...

Controversial Build Up To The World’s Most Pretigiuos Tournament
It was the first time that the World Cup took place in Asia. In fact, it was the first time the Cup was hosted outside of Europe and the Americas.
Initially, the two Asian countries, South Korea and Japan were competitors in the bidding process, but at the last minute before the vote, they agreed with FIFA to co-host the event. However, the competitive nature of the two host nations, partly because of the historical rivalry between them and the distance between them led to problems in organization and logistics. With Japan lobbying FIFA and Korea lobbying UEFA, the soccer world was split badly. Japan pushed its modern infrastructure, wealth, and technology as key points. Korea, which had a longer professional soccer tradition, believed it was more deserving.
After the tournament, FIFA has repeatedly said co-hosting will likely not happen again, and in 2004, FIFA stated that its statutes do not allow bids that involve co-hosting.
In the end, the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan was successfully co-hosted by the two countries.

A Cup, Full of Surprises and Upsets
The 2002 World Cup will surely be most memorable for the upsets... There were the astonishing early eliminations — favorites Argentina and reigning champions France headed home after the first round.
There were the shock victories, like Senegal's 1-0 win over the French in an opening match that set the tourney's roller-coaster tone. Although no underdog actually broke through, what fun it was to watch the Senegalese, with their ecstatic conga-line celebrations after their unexpected goals, and the U.S.'s 3-2 defeat of Portugal that helped the Americans advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1930.
And there were the Cinderella marches of host countries Japan and Korea, both of whom went further than anyone imagined. Maybe all these surprises seduced us briefly into believing in football's parallel universe. In what seemed to be the final hurdle for Koreans to clinch third place, it was the Turks, whose relentless perseverance eventually paid off when they secured a 3-2 victory over the untiring Koreans and won the battle for third place.

Ah! The Fans...
If a sport is only as strong as their passion, one of the legacies of World Cup 2002 must be how football found its way into the heart of folks in the most unexpected places — like the host countries, where soccer is hardly the prevailing pastime. In the first half of Japan's initial match against Belgium, which resulted in a draw, many of the 50 odd thousand-strong, blue-clad home crowd sat strangely mute.
However, when Takayuki Suzuki scored Japan's first goal of World Cup 2002, Saitama Stadium erupted in a frenzy of pride. And once the Japanese got the hang of it, they could not be stopped. The night their team defeated Russia, the Japanese celebrated like hell.
As for the Koreans, who could forget the sight of 40 odd thousand delirious fans jumping up and down in Daejeon Stadium the night their forward Ahn Jung Hwan grabbed a 117th minute Golden Goal to knock Italy out of the World Cup? Or the 100,000 Koreans who, in the spirit of hospitality, served as volunteer supporters for other nations?
People of both the countries served as true ambassadors, in which, football was the ultimate winner.

A New Star Was Born...
It was the 50th minute of the match. With scores tied at 1-1 in what was assumed a close encounter. And there it was! A magnificent free kick, taken by Ronaldinho, stunned thousands of English present in the stadium, millions of them watching at their home and most of all, England keeper David Seaman. Seaman and the entire English team were left stunned by a Ronaldinho special. With this goal, Ronaldinho marked his arrival on the big stage.

The Ultimate Samba…
After a deluge of upsets in the early stages of the cup, the World Cup 2002 was now into its most important stage—the final. And it was none other than the Brazilians, who overpowered Germany and lifted the trophy with a emphatic 2-0 victory. It was a time to celebrate for the South Americans, who won their fifth world cup.
The three R’s—Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo, provided the world cup with some breath taking moments. It was a pleasure to watch these three play and torment the oppositions defense throughout the World Cup.

The 2002 World Cup will be remembered for a long time by the Japanese and the Koreans. It will be remembered for the upsets it had. The cup would be remembered for years, as Asia announced its arrival on global stage. Nonetheless, the 2002 World Cup will be remembered as one of the most exciting world cup ever played in the history of World Cup Football. The focus now shifts to Europe and to the country, rich with Football history, Germany to host a world cup and make it the most memorable one, not only for them, but also for the entire footballing world...