1997 in association football

Events January 1 – Manager Leo Beenhakker is named technical director at Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem and replaced as a manager by Sparta Rotterdam head coach Henk ten Cate. Roberto Carlos goal by famous 'banana shot' in free kick against France in 1997 Tournoi de France Copa Libertadores 1997: is won by Cruzeiro after defeating Sporting Cristal on an aggregate score of 1–0. UEFA Champions League: Borussia Dortmund won 3–1 in final against Juventusin the Olympiastadion. The goals for the Germans are scored by Riedle in the 29th and 34th minute and Ricken in the 71st minute. Scottish Cup: Kilmarnock FC beats Falkirk 1–0. February 25 – Manager Hans Westerhof is sacked by FC Groningen. April 30 – Striker Boudewijn Zenden from PSV Eindhoven plays his first international match for the Netherlands national football team, when Holland defeats San Marino 6–0 in Serravalle. May 17 – Chelsea wins the FA Cup by defeating Middlesbrough 2–0. May 18 – Eric Cantona, the famous and controversial French footballer in the Premiership, announces his retirement from football. June 29 – Brazil wins the 1997 Copa América by defeating home nation Bolivia 3–1 in the final in the Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz. July 20 – Gudjon Thordarson makes his debut as the manager of Iceland with a 1–0 loss against Norway. August 17 – PSV Eindhoven wins the Johan Cruijff Schaal, the annual opening of the new season in the Eredivisie, with a 3–1 win over Roda JC in the Amsterdam ArenA. November 2 – Borussia Dortmund wins the Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo, Japan by defeating Brazil's Cruzeiro 2–0. The goals for the Germans are scored by Michael Zorc and Heiko Herrlich.

Winner national club championships

Asia - Júbilo Iwata – Al-Ansar – Al-Arabi - Pusan Daewoo Royals - Bangkok Bank, Royal Thai Air Force

Europe – CSKA Sofia – Croatia Zagreb – Manchester United – AS Monaco – Bayern Munich – Olympiacos – Juventus – PSV Eindhoven – Rosenborg – Widzew Łódź – Porto – Real Madrid – Galatasaray – Partizan

North America

Verano – Chivas Invierno – Cruz Azul – D.C. United (MLS)

South America

Clausura – River Plate Apertura – River Plate – Bolívar – Vasco da Gama

Apertura – Universidad Católica Clausura – Colo-Colo – Olimpia Asunción – Alianza Lima

International tournaments UNCAF Nations Cup in Guatemala City, Guatemala (April 16–27, 1997) Copa América in Bolivia (June 11–29, 1997) Baltic Cup in Vilnius, Lithuania (July 9 – 11 1997) FIFA U-20 World Cup in Malaysia (June 16 – July 5, 1997) FIFA U-17 World Championship in Egypt (September 5–21, 1997) Tournoi de France in France (June 3–11, 1997)

National team results

Europe

South America

Births January 1 – Quique Fornos, Spanish footballer January 5 – Jesús Vallejo, Spanish footballer January 7 – Izzy Brown, English footballer January 8 – Fran Brodić, Croatian footballer January 16 – Pau Torres, Spanish footballer January 26 – Gedion Zelalem, American footballer January 31 – Arnaut Danjuma, Dutch footballer February 3 – Lewis Cook, English footballer February 6 – Gogi Shoniya, Russian former footballer February 10 – Adam Armstrong, English footballer February 26 – Malcom, Brazilian footballer March 3 Elia Alessandrini, Swiss footballer (d. 2022) Jaime Carreño, Chilean footballer March 6 – Daniel De Silva, Australian youth international March 12 Dean Henderson, English footballer Allan Saint-Maximin, French footballer March 29 – Ezequiel Ponce, Argentine footballer April 2 – Abdelhak Nouri, Dutch footballer April 5 – Borja Mayoral, Spanish footballer April 13 – Mateo Cassierra, Colombian footballer April 17 – Jorge Meré, Spanish footballer April 18 – Donny van de Beek, Dutch footballer April 22 – Jill Roord, Dutch footballer April 27 – Josh Onomah, English footballer May 12 – Frenkie de Jong, Dutch footballer May 14 – Rúben Dias, Portuguese footballer May 17 Andrea Favilli, Italian footballer Ayron Verkindere, Belgian footballer June 12 – Feras Dahboor, Qatari born-Syrian footballer June 16 – Jean-Kévin Augustin, French footballer June 22 – Gabriel Rojas, Argentine footballer July 3 – Filip Sachpekidis, Swedish footballer July 11 – Rasmus Kristensen, Danish footballer July 25 – Louis Reed, English footballer August 2 – Ivan Šaponjić, Serbian footballer August 3 Daniel Crowley, English youth international Adrian Lillebekk Ovlien, Norwegian footballer (d. 2018) August 4 – Cinzia Zehnder, Swiss footballer August 6 – Sander Svendsen, Norwegian youth international August 9 – Leon Bailey, Jamaican international August 12 – Taiwo Awoniyi, Nigerian footballer August 19 – Bartłomiej Drągowski, Polish footballer August 22 – Lautaro Martínez, Argentine footballer August 29 – Ainsley Maitland-Niles, English footballer September 15 – Jeisson Vargas, Chilean footballer September 16 – Zsanett Kaján, Hungarian women's international October 2 – Tammy Abraham, English international October 6 – Kasper Dolberg, Danish international October 9 - Samuel Leach Holm, Swedish-Israeli professional footballer October 17 – Václav Černý, Czech footballer October 22 – Jodi Jones, Maltese footballer November 1 – Nordi Mukiele, French footballer November 14 – Christopher Nkunku, French footballer November 18 Olivier Boscagli, French footballer Robert Sánchez, Spanish footballer November 26 – Aaron Wan-Bissaka, English footballer December 7 – Abi Harrison, Scottish footballer December 11 – Konstantinos Mavropanos, Greek footballer

Deaths

January January 10 – Francisco Aramburu, Brazilian striker, runner-up at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (75)

February February 19 – Afonso Guimarães da Silva, Brazilian midfielder, semi-finalist at the 1938 FIFA World Cup. (82) February 21 – Josef Posipal, West-German defender, winner of the 1954 FIFA World Cup. (69, heart failure)

March March 25 – Baltazar, Brazilian striker, runner-up at the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (71)

April April 23 – Brian Alderson (46), Scottish footballer

June June 4 – Pedro Zaballa (58), Spanish footballer June 18 – Héctor Yazalde (51), Argentinian footballer

July July 8 – Dick van Dijk (51), Dutch footballer July 10 – Ivor Allchurch (67), Welsh footballer

September September 21 – Juan Burgueño, Uruguayan forward, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (91) September 29 – Dequinha, Brazilian midfielder, Brazilian squad member at the 1954 FIFA World Cup. (69)

October October 18 – Ramiro Castillo (31), Bolivian footballer October 31 – Bram Appel (76), Dutch footballer October 31 – Hans Bauer, West-German defender, winner of the 1954 FIFA World Cup. (70)

November November 1 – Roger Marche (73), French footballer November 9 – Helenio Herrera (80), Argentine-French footballer and manager

December December 7 – Billy Bremner (54), Scottish footballer December 28 – William Martínez, Uruguayan midfielder, winner of the 1950 FIFA World Cup. (69)

References

Association football by year