The 2002 World Cup was an intriguing one for many reasons. There were interesting storylines and when all was said and done, Brazil had an unprecedented fifth World Cup.

The tournament was played on two fronts in Korea and Japan and the co-host nations acquitted themselves very well. Japan started with a 2-2 draw to Belgium, got back-to-back shutouts against Russia and Tunisia, before losing 1-0 to Turkey in the Round of 16.

Japan’s solid showing was overshadowed though, by the Cinderella run of the Korean Republic. Korea shutout a Poland 2-0, earned a 1-1 draw against the United States, and shutout Portugal 1-0. In the Round of 16 Korea continued their inspired play.

The Red Devils as they became known upset the Italians in extra time to head into the quarterfinals of the tournament. Rather than become complacent after a big win over the Azurri, Korea continued to surprise. With a berth in the semifinals on the line, the Red Devils took Spain to a penalty shootout and won 5-3. In the semifinals, the odds would again be stacked against Korea as they faced the Germans. But the clock struck twelve on the Red Devils’ fairy tale run as they were denied a World Cup berth on a goal by Michael Ballack. Though the Devils lost the third place match to Turkey 3-2, they already had achieved much more than expected.

The French shocked the World in 1998 when they beat Brazil to take the World Cup 3-0 on home soil. Hot off the World Cup, they also took home the Euro tournament 2 years later. Alas, it was France who would be shocked in Asia in the 2002 tournament as they failed to live up to expectations. They were upset by Senegal 1-0, earned a scoreless draw against Uruguay before getting knocked out of the tournament with a 2-0 loss to Denmark.

Brazil was still trying to get over the hangover from the previous World Cup. In France ’98, Brazil lost to the host nation 3-0 in the title game. Going into the 2002 tournament, not many people had faith in the 1994 champions. After going 3-0 in the first round, the Brazilians continued their perfect play in the Round of 16 beating Belgium 2-0. The flawless played continued on to the quarters and the semis as they defeated England 2-1 and Turkey 1-0 respectively. This set up a showdown with Germany in the final game at International Stadium in Yokohama, Japan. It was a matchup of two giants as Ronaldo and Ronaldinho led their Brazilian side against Oliver Kahn and the German side. Going into the match the Germany would be missing star Michael Ballack. Ballack scored in the semifinal vs. Korea but earned a second yellow card, which would cause him to miss the final. But Ballack was by no means the only weapon the Germans had.

Despite solid goalkeeping from Oliver Kahn, the Brazilians were able to get two past him. Ronaldo scored in the 67th minute and again in the 79th minute to lead Brazil to yet another World Cup.

Kahn was named the World Cup’s best player and awarded the Golden Ball award but was of little consolation to the keeper on the losing side. Kahn and the Germans host World Cup 2006, perhaps they will be able to erase the bitter memories of the previous tournament like the Brazilians in 2002.

Next time: World Cup betting favorites for Germany 2006