it was a year of firsts in the 2002 uefa super cup as real madrid cf finally claimed the only european trophy that had eluded them, and in the process became the first uefa champions league holders to win the competition since its move to monaco in 1998.
vicente del bosque's side put on a thrilling display at the stade louis ii to defeat uefa cup winners feyenoord 3-1, picking up from where they left off after their victory against bayer 04 leverkusen in may's uefa champions league final in glasgow.
in a team boasting the world's two costliest players, zinédine zidane and luís figo, it was the unlikely figure of esteban cambiasso, a 22-year-old argentinian midfielder, who proved feyenoord's nemesis with a sizzling display on his european debut.
the little-known south american probed and teased the rotterdam side and created madrid's first-half goals with two outstanding pieces of skill.
on 15 minutes, cambiasso sent man-of-the-match roberto carlos beyond the feyenoord back-line with a delicate chip. the brazilian drilled in a low centre that feyenoord defender patrick paauwe turned into his own net.
roberto carlos got the second himself six minutes later. cambiasso played a one-two on the left flank before eluding chris gyan and slipping in guti whose instinctive back-heel was curled into the net with his right instep by the rampaging left-back.
madrid maintained their high tempo after the break, but feyenoord forced their way back into the game through pierre van hooijdonk. paul bosvelt - at last afforded some space to push forward - was felled on the edge of the box by zidane in the 55th minute to present van hooijdonk with an identical free-kick opportunity from which he scored against bv borussia dortmund in the uefa cup final. again, the giant dutchman made no mistake, beating iker casillas to his right.
feyenoord's recovery, however, was short-lived as madrid restored their two-goal advantage just four minutes later. cambiasso and zidane combined to set up figo who had time to pick out guti at the far post, leaving the striker with the simple task of nodding the ball into an empty net.
after losing to chelsea fc and galatasaray aş in their previous uefa super cup appearances, the nine-times european champions had finally made their mark on the competition.
