1999–2000 FC Basel season

The 1999–2000 Fussball Club Basel 1893 season was their 106th season since the club's foundation. Following their promotion in the 1993–94 season this was their sixth consecutive season in the highest tier of Swiss football. René C. Jäggi was the club's chairman for the fourth year. FC Basel played their home games in the Stadion Schützenmatte while the new stadium was being built.

FC Basel

1999–2000 season
Chairman	René C. Jäggi
Manager	Christian Gross
Ground	Stadion Schützenmatte
Nationalliga A	Qualifying Phase 2nd
Nationalliga A	Champions Group 3rd
Swiss Cup	Quarterfinals
Top goalscorer	League: George Koumantarakis (13) All: George Koumantarakis (24)
Highest home attendance	11,750 vs Zürich 29 August 1999
Lowest home attendance	5,203 vs Lausanne-Sport 27 November 1999
Average home league attendance	7,680[1]

Overview

On 15 June 1999 Christian Gross was appointed as the new first team trainer and he assigned Ruedi Zbinden as his co-trainer. Forming his new team, Gross made a number of signings before the season started. These new signings included defensive players such as Alexandre Quennoz, who signed from Sion, Ivan Knez from Luzern and Murat Yakin who came from Fenerbahçe and forwards such as George Koumantarakis who signed in from Luzern, Didier Tholot from Sion and Thomas Häberli from Kriens. The most interest was raised in the signing of Pascal Zuberbühler in a goalkeeper swap with Stefan Huber who then went to Grasshopper Club. In the outwards direction Mario Frick transferred to Zürich, Abedi to Yverdon and Fabrice Henry to Hibernian (on loan).

The Campaign

Domestic League

The qualifying round of the League season 1999–2000 was contested by twelve teams. The first eight teams of the First Stage (or Qualification) were then to compete in the Championship Round. The season started on 7 July. Basel's priority aim was to reach the Championship stage and end the season in the top three. The season started sub-optimal, the team remained unbeaten, but with just three wins and four draws in the first seven rounds, they lost contact to the table leaders. Following their first defeat, in the away game against Lausanne-Sport, Basel improved their position in the table with another three victories. Basel suffered their first home defeat on 2 October against Yverdon-Sports, but they ended the Qualification Round in second position in the league table.

The Championship Round started on 12 March 2000. The participating teams took half of the points (rounded up to complete units) gained in the Qualification as bonus with them. Basel played amongst the table leaders and in the tenth round they even managed a 3–1 victory against league leaders St. Gallen. However, in their last four matches Basel won only two further points and dropped to third position behind champions St Gallen and Lausanne, against whom the final game of the season ended in a 0–3 home defeat on 7 June 2000. Nevertheless, Basel qualified for the 2000–01 UEFA Cup.

Domestic Cup

Basel's clear aim for the Swiss Cup was to win the title. In the round of 32, they were drawn away against Mendrisio. In the next round a home game against Grasshopper Club, ended in a draw and was eventually won in the penalty shoot out. The quarterfinal against Lausanne ended the cup run.

Europe

Basel were qualified for the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup. The first round was played against Slovenian team Korotan Prevalje on 20 and 26 June 1999 and won 6–0 on aggregate. The second round draw brought the Czech Republic club Boby Brno to Basel on 4 July. The return leg a week later gave Basel a 4–2 victory on aggregate. Although the first leg of the third round was won away from home against Hamburg, the Germans won the second leg in the Stadion Schützenmatte and Hamburg proceeded due to the away goals rule.

Players

First team squad

The following is the list of the Basel first team squad. It includes all players that were in the squad the day the season started on 7 July 1999 but subsequently left the club after that date and it includes all players that transferred in during the season.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   SUI Pascal Zuberbühler 2 DF   SUI Massimo Ceccaroni 3 DF   SUI Luís Calapes 4 DF   SUI Alexandre Quennoz 5 DF  GER Oliver Kreuzer 6 DF   SUI Philippe Cravero 7 FW  LIE Marco Pérez (loan to SR Delémont) 8 MF   SUI Raphael Kehrli 9 FW  RSA George Koumantarakis 10 MF  RUS Aleksandr Rytchkov 11 FW  TUR Cetin Güner 12 DF   SUI Sébastien Barberis 13 DF   SUI Marco Tschopp 14 FW  RUS Nenad Savić 16 MF   SUI Benjamin Huggel

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 MF   SUI Mario Cantaluppi 18 GK   SUI Oliver Stöckli 19 DF  BRA Fabinho (contract ended) 20 DF   SUI Ivan Knez 21 MF   SUI Didier Tholot 22 MF  TUR Attila Sahin (to Göztepe Izmir) 23 DF   SUI Murat Yakin 24 DF   SUI Thomas Häberli 25 GK  CIV Slaven Matan (on loan to Young Boys) 26 FW  GHA Edmond N'Tiamoah (from youth team) 27 FW  ZIM Agent Sawu 29 FW   SUI Urs Güntensperger — FW  RUS Daniel Dobrovoljski — FW   SUI Deniz Mendi — FW  FRA Olivier Boumelaha (from youth team)

Transfers in

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   SUI Pascal Zuberbühler (from Grasshopper Club) 4 DF   SUI Alexandre Quennoz (from Sion) 8 MF   SUI Raphael Kehrli (from Young Boys) 9 FW  RSA George Koumantarakis (from Luzern) 14 FW  RUS Nenad Savić (from Xamax)

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 GK   SUI Oliver Stöckli (from Baden) 20 DF   SUI Ivan Knez (from Luzern) 21 MF   SUI Didier Tholot (from Sion) 23 DF   SUI Murat Yakin (from Fenerbahçe) 24 DF   SUI Thomas Häberli (from Kriens) 27 FW  ZIM Agent Sawu (from Young Boys)

Transfers out

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   SUI Stefan Huber (to Grasshopper Club) 8 MF  LIE Mario Frick (to Zürich)

No. Pos. Nation Player 9 MF  FRA Fabrice Henry (to Hibernian (loan)) 24 DF  BRA Abedi (to Yverdon)

Results

Nationalliga A

Main article: 1999–2000 Nationalliga A

Qualifying Phase

Lugano v Basel

7 July 1999 Round 1	Lugano	1 – 1	Basel	Cornaredo, Lugano
19:30	Rossi  29' Magnin 90'	Summary	12'  33' Kreuzer  25' Koumantarakis	Attendance: 5,100 Referee: Dieter Schoch

Basel v Xamax

14 July 1999 Round 2	Basel	1 – 1	Xamax	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
19:30	Tholot  35' Savić  80'	Summary	68' Wittl  81' Sansoni  90+2' Bieli	Attendance: 8,679 Referee: Massimo Busacca

Yverdon-Sports v Basel

17 July 1999 Round 3	Yverdon-Sports	Postponed	Basel	Stade Municipal, Yverdon
		[ Summary]

Basel v Grasshopper Club

21 July 1999 Round 4	Basel	1 – 1	Grasshopper Club	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
19:30	Güner  17' Cravero  36' Knez  70' Kreuzer  76'	Summary	22' Cabanas  74'  89' de Napoli	Attendance: 8,431 Referee: Roland Beck

St. Gallen v Basel

24 July 1999 Round 5	St. Gallen	Postponed	Basel	Espenmoos, St. Gallen
		[ Summary]

Basel v SR Delémont

31 July 1999 Round 6	Basel	3 – 0	SR Delémont	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
17:30	Tholot  6', 42' Kreuzer  76' Cravero  83'	Summary	6' Fabinho	Attendance: 7,535 Referee: Philippe Leuba

Servette v Basel

5 August 1999 Round 7	Servette	1 – 1	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
20:00	Koumantarakis  12' Kreuzer  51' Barberis  65' Cantaluppi  83' Sahin  90'	Summary	Jeanneret 26'  81' Thurre	Attendance: 6,142 Referee: Carlo Bertolini

Yverdon-Sports v Basel

10 August 1999 Round 3	Yverdon-Sports	0 – 1	Basel	Stade Municipal, Yverdon
19:30	Peço  50' Abedi (Gonçalves)  67' Diogo  88'	Summary	16' Kreuzer  31' Tholot Savić  33' Koumantarakis  41'	Attendance: 5,100 Referee: Marcel Vollenweider

Basel v Luzern

15 August 1999 Round 8	Basel	2 – 0	Luzern	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
16:15	Tholot  39' Koumantarakis  43' Kehrli  45' Güner  55' Kreuzer  67' Huggel  81'	Summary	43' A. Frei  73' Arnold	Attendance: 7,850 Referee: Urs Meier

Lausanne-Sport v Basel

21 August 1999 Round 9	Lausanne-Sport	1 – 0	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
19:30	Mazzoni  21'	Summary	17' Knez  60' Ceccaroni	Attendance: 5,700 Referee: Nicole Petignat

St. Gallen v Basel

24 August 1999 Round 5	St. Gallen	1 – 1	Basel	Espenmoos, St. Gallen
19:30	Hellinga  32' Winkler  57' Contini  78' Jairo  88' Amoah  90+4'	Summary	25' Tschopp  27' Huggel  90+1' Knez  94' Kreuzer	Attendance: 11.600 Referee: René Rogalla

Basel v Zürich

29 August 1999 Round 10	Basel	0 – 0	Zürich	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
16:15	Güner  57'	Summary	11' Eydelie  34' Stocklasa  45' Fischer	Attendance: 11,750 Referee: Reto Rutz

Aarau v Basel

11 September 1999 Round 11	Aarau	1 – 3	Basel	Stadion Brügglifeld, Aarau
19:30	Baldassarri  60' Wojciechowski  81'	Summary	8' Huggel  15' Tholot  71' Cantaluppi  87' Savić	Attendance: 5,800 Referee: Marcus Nobs

Basel v Lugano

18 September 1999 Round 12	Basel	1 – 0	Lugano	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
16:30	Huggel  13' Barberis  32' Calapes  58' Knez  77' Tholot  85'	Summary	27'  59' Barea	Attendance: 6,950 Referee: Urs Meier

Xamax v Basel

23 September 1999 Round 13	Xamax	1 – 2	Basel	Stade de la Maladière (1924), Neuchâtel
19:30	Delay  54' Moret  69' Bieli 90+3'	Summary	51' Tholot  70' Tschopp  87' Calapes	Attendance: 6,200 Referee: Dominique Tavel

Basel v Yverdon-Sports

2 October 1999 Round 14	Basel	1 – 2	Yverdon-Sports	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
19:30	Cantaluppi  13' Koumantarakis  87'	Summary	29' Biaggi  34' Adoazinho  36' Jenny  69', 85' Tchouga  76' Friedli	Attendance: 9,250 Referee: Claude Détruche

Grasshopper Club v Basel

17 October 1999 Round 15	Grasshopper Club	1 – 1	Basel	Hardturm, Zürich
16:15	Sermeter  25' Ekoku  72'	Summary	3' Kreuzer  21' Knez  44' Huggel  67' Savić	Attendance: 10,700 Referee: Dieter Schoch

Basel v St. Gallen

24 October 1999 Round 16	Basel	4 – 1	St. Gallen	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
16:05	Koumantarakis  35', 63', 70' Kreuzer  47' Güntensperger  80'	Summary	30' Müller  37' Mazzarelli  78' Amoah  84' Helinga  84' Zellweger	Attendance: 7,861 Referee: Guido Wildhaber

SR Delémont v Basel

31 October 1999 Round 17	SR Delémont	2 – 2	Basel	La Blancherie, Delémont
14:30	Fabinho  19'  10' Rytchkov  33'  17' (pen.) Hushi  90'	Summary	8' Huggel  17' Knez  24' Cantaluppi  61'  9' Kreuzer	Attendance: 6,200 Referee: Massimo Busacca

Basel v Servette

7 November 1999 Round 18	Basel	0 – 0	Servette	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
17:30	Quennoz  16' Cravero  58'	Summary	50' Vurens  51' Ouadja  79' Vanetta	Attendance: 6,535 Referee: René Rogalla

Luzern v Basel

21 November 1999 Round 19	Luzern	3 – 0	Basel	Stadion Allmend, Luzern
14:30	A. Frei  34', 62' Türkyılmaz  52'	Summary	16' Cravero  61' Knez  79' Cantaluppi	Attendance: 8,845 Referee: Marcel Vollenweider

Basel v Lausanne-Sport

27 November 1999 Round 20	Basel	3 – 3	Lausanne-Sport	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
17:30	Cravero  10' Koumantarakis  15' Cantaluppi  76' Kreuzer  78'	Summary	27' Gerber  36' Rehn  39' (pen.) Diogo  74' Horjak  80' Christ  81' Kuźba	Attendance: 5,203 Referee: Nicole Petignat

Zürich v Basel

5 December 1999 Round 21	Zürich	0 – 1	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
14:30	Stocklasa  22' Eydelie  36'	Summary	27' Koumantarakis  53' Tschopp	Attendance: 6,600 Referee: Roland Beck

Basel v Aarau

12 December 1999 Round 22	Basel	2 – 1	Aarau	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
14:30	Cantaluppi  8' Knez  60' Kreuzer  79' (pen.)	Summary	21' Skrzypczak  63' Tarone  82' Baudry  90+2' Pavlicevic	Attendance: 6,900 Referee: Carlo Bertolini

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	FC St. Gallen	22	13	6	3	42	25	+17	45
2	FC Basel	22	9	10	3	31	21	+10	37
3	Lausanne Sports	22	9	9	4	35	25	+10	36
4	Grasshopper Club Zürich	22	9	7	6	40	25	+15	34
5	Yverdon-Sport FC	22	7	9	6	28	25	+3	30

Source: rsssf.com

Champions Group

Lausanne-Sport v Basel

12 March 2000 Round 1	Lausanne-Sport	0 – 0	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
16:15	Puce 62'	Summary	17' Tholot  88' M. Yakin	Attendance: 6,000 Referee:

Basel v Grasshopper Club

19 March 2000 Round 2	Basel	2 – 2	Grasshopper Club	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
16:15	Savić  26'  23' Huggel  19'  35' Cantaluppi  82'	Summary	18' Gren  47' Tikva  51' Chapuisat  63' Smiljanić	Attendance: 6,600 Referee: Reto Rutz

Luzern v Basel

26 March 2000 Round 3	Luzern	3 – 2	Basel	Stadion Allmend, Luzern
16:15	Sander  37' Blunschi 66' A. Frei  69' Branca  87'	Summary	31' Koumantarakis  64' Kreuzer  85' Ceccaroni	Attendance: 9,132 Referee: Philippe Leuba

Basel v Servette

1 April 2000 Round 4	Basel	1 – 0	Servette	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
19:30	Koumantarakis  69' Tholot  74' M. Yakin  83'	Summary	10' Wolf  70' El Brazi	Attendance: 6,120 Referee: Marcel Vollenweider

St. Gallen v Basel

7 April 2000 Round 5	St. Gallen	1 – 1	Basel	Espenmoos, St. Gallen
20:15	Winkler  19' Gane 43'	Sumarry	17' Barberis  20' M. Yakin  44' Knez  76' Kreuzer  85' Barberis  89' Cantaluppi	Attendance: 11,300 Referee: René Rogalla

Basel v Yverdon-Sports

15 April 2000 Round 6	Basel	2 – 0	Yverdon-Sports	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
19:30	Koumantarakis  3' Quennoz  7' Cantaluppi  24' Kreuzer  30'  58'  37' (pen.)	Summary	38' Jenny	Attendance: 6,334 Referee: Nicole Petignat

Basel v Xamax

22 April 2000 Round 7	Basel	1 – 1	Xamax	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
19:30	Huggel  90+1'	Summary	38' Boughanem  66'  85' Bieli	Attendance: 7,273 Referee: Marcus Nobs

Xamax v Basel

29 April 2000 Round 8	Xamax	1 – 2	Basel	Stade de la Maladière (1924), Neuchâtel
19:30	Simo  25' Sène  81' Bieli  90+4' (pen.)	Summary	2' Savić  29' Koumantarakis  82' (pen.) M. Yakin  90+3' Tschopp	Attendance: 6,700 Referee: Philippe Leuba

Yverdon-Sports v Basel

7 May 2000 Round 9	Yverdon-Sports	0 – 1	Basel	Stade Municipal, Yverdon
14:30	Cavalho  74'	Summary	3' Koumantarakis  54' Huggel  59' Häberli	Attendance: 3,212 Referee: Urs Meier

Basel v St. Gallen

12 May 2000 Round 10	Basel	3 – 1	St. Gallen	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
20:15	Tholot  7', 57' Savić  20' Cantaluppi  55' Kehrli  77'	Summary	17' Amoah  32' Mazzarelli  49' Jairo  66' Müller	Attendance: 10,550 Referee: Massimo Busacca

Servette v Basel

21 May 2000 Round 11	Servette	1 – 1	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
16:15	Šiljak 88'	Summary	26' Tholot	Attendance: 3,374 Referee: Urs Meier

Basel v Luzern

28 May 2000 Round 12	Basel	0 – 0	Luzern	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
14:30		Summary	21'  33' Sander	Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Roland Beck

Grasshopper Club v Basel

2 June 2000 Round 13	Grasshopper Club	3 – 0	Basel	Hardturm, Zürich
20:15	Esposito  70'  13' Berner  48' Muff  51' Cabanas  63'	Summary	90+2' Knez  90+3' M. Yakin	Attendance: 10,900 Referee: Guido Wildhaber

Basel v Lausanne-Sport

7 June 2000 Round 14	Basel	0 – 3	Lausanne-Sport	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
19:30		Summary	33'  63' Londono  51' Gerber  80' Kuźba	Attendance: 7,053 Referee: Massimo Busacca

League table

The first eight teams of the Qualification phase competed in the Championship Playoff Round. They took half of the points (rounded up to complete units) gained in the Qualification as Bonus with them.

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	FC St. Gallen (C)	14	9	4	1	33	14	+19	54	Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round
2	Lausanne Sports	14	8	2	4	22	13	+9	44	Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round
3	FC Basel	14	5	6	3	16	16	0	40
4	Grasshopper Club Zürich	14	5	5	4	30	26	+4	37	Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round
5	FC Lucerne	14	5	2	7	17	30	−13	31

Source: rsssf.com
(C) Champion.

Swiss Cup

Main article: Swiss Cup

Mendrisio v Basel

13 November 1999 Round of 32	Mendrisio	1 – 5	Basel	Centro Sportivo Comunale, Mendrisio
15:30		Summary	25', 55', 75' Koumantarakis  43' Huggel  27' Tschopp  83' Güner	Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Roland Beck

Basel v Grasshopper Club

4 March 2000 Round of 16	Basel	1 – 1 (a.e.t.) (5 – 4 p)	Grasshopper Club	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
20:15	H. Yakin  25' Kreuzer  37' (pen.) Koumantarakis  85' Cravero  98'	Summary	30' Haas  65' Müller  66' Chapuisat	Attendance: 6,500 Referee: Urs Meier
	Penalties
	M. Yakin Tholot Kreuzer Koumantarakis Huggel		Chapuisat Müller Cabanas Tikva Hodel

Lausanne-Sport v Basel

12 April 2000 Quarterfinal	Lausanne-Sport	3 – 2	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
19:30	Magnin  18' Kuźba  78'  32' Gerber  34', 88'	Summary	50' Koumantarakis  72' M. Yakin N'Tiamoah	Attendance: 2,600 Referee: Dieter Schoch

1999 UIC

Main article: 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup

First round

Korotan Prevalje v Basel

20 June 1999 First leg	Korotan Prevalje	0 – 0	Basel	Stadion na Prevaljah, Prevalje
17:00	Benedejcic  4' Ristic  71'	Summary	69' Cantaluppi  73' Huggel  77' Ceccaroni	Attendance: 2,000 Referee: Georgios Kasnaferis (Greece)

Basel v Korotan Prevalje

26 June 1999 Second leg	Basel	6 – 0 (6 – 0 agg.)	Korotan Prevalje	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
17:30	Kreuzer  10' (pen.) Koumantarakis  18', 24', 43', 78' Ceccaroni  38' Cantaluppi  58'	Summary		Attendance: 2,600 Referee: Costas Kapitanis (Cyprus)

Basel won 6–0 on aggregate.

Second round

Basel v Boby Brno

4 July 1999 First leg	Basel	0 – 0	Boby Brno	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
17:30		Summary	75' Zubek  80' Zbončák	Attendance: 2,600 Referee: Sorin Corpodean (Romania)

Boby Brno v Basel

11 July 1999 Second leg	Boby Brno	2 – 4 (2 – 4 agg.)	Basel	Stadion Za Lužánkami, Brno
18:00	Křivánek  9'  19' Patrik Holomek  46' Siegl  50' Zbončák  51' Cihlar  84'	Summary	10' (pen.) Tholot  24' Güner  37' Cantaluppi  71' Savić  79' Pérez  89'Kehrli	Attendance: 2,600 Referee: Eduardo Iturralde González (Spain)

Basel won 4–2 on aggregate.

Third round

Hamburg v Basel

18 July 1999 First leg	Hamburg	0 – 1	Basel	Lohmühle, Lübeck
18:00	Hoogma  65'	Summary	15' Koumantarakis  47' Quennoz  72' Zuberbühler	Attendance: 8,192 Referee: Miroslav Radoman (FR Yugoslavia)

Basel v Hamburg

24 July 1999 Second leg	Basel	2 – 3 (3 – 3 agg.)	Hamburg	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
16:45	Quennoz  29' Koumantarakis  84'  50', 57' Huggel  90+3'	Summary	37' Fischer  44'Groth  48' Yeboah  62' Grammozis  64' Hashemian	Attendance: 3,756 Referee: René Temmink (Netherlands)

3–3 on aggregate, Hamburg won on away goals rule.

Sources and references

• Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2015/2016. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2050-4
• Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2017/2018. Publisher: FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2189-1
• 1999–2000 at Joggeli.ch
• 1999–2000 at RSSSF

1. Stefan Peter. "Überregionale Meisterschaften, Schweizer und Basler Cup". Retrieved 2018-11-16.

External links

• FC Basel official site