FC Basel

1998–99 season
Chairman	René C. Jäggi
Manager	Guy Mathez (until 14 May 1999) Marco Schällibaum (ad interim)
Ground	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel (until 13 Dezember 1998) Stadion Schützenmatte (from 7 March 1999)
Nationalliga A	Qualifying Phase 6th
Nationalliga A	Champions Group 5th
Swiss Cup	Round of 32
Top goalscorer	League: Mario Frick (10) All: Mario Frick (11)
Highest home attendance	34,735 on 13 December 1998 vs Lugano
Lowest home attendance	3,830 on 2 June 1999 vs Luzern
Average home league attendance	9,870[1]
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

The 1998–99 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 fifth consecutive season in the highest tier of Swiss football. René C. Jäggi was the club's chairman for the third year. FC Basel played their home games in the St. Jakob Stadium until 13 Dezember 1998. From 7 March 199 they played their games in the Stadion Schützenmatte while the new stadium was being built.

Guy Mathez, who had taken over the coaching in January of that year, was appointed as the new trainer at the start of the season, but on 14 May 1999 he was sacked and was replaced by Marco Schällibaum (ad interim) until the end of the season.

The club made many new signings as the season started, these included Mario Cantaluppi who returned from Servette. Also from Servette came the Romanian international Dan Potocianu and, on loan, the youngster Carlos Varela. Aleksandr Rytchkov was signed from 1. FC Köln and Philippe Cravero signed in from lower classed Etoile Carouge. The Ivorian international Ahmed Ouattara and the young Brazilian Abedi were signed in from Sion. Benjamin Huggel was signed in from local amateur club FC Münchenstein, he had played the previous season for FC Arlesheim, in the fourth tier of Swiss football.

In the other direction Adrian Knup, Daniel Salvi and Jürgen Hartmann all ended their football careers. Dario Zuffi returned to his club of origin Winterthur after having playing five years for the club. Jan Berger moved to Aarau and youngster Alexander Frei was loaned out to Thun so that he could obtain more playing time. Fabinho Santos returned home to Joinville in Brasil.

The first half of the season, until 13 December 1998, Basel's home ground was the St. Jakob Stadium. From 7 March 199 they played their games in the Stadion Schützenmatte and this because the old stadium was demolished and the new stadium was to be built on the same ground. The construction of the new stadium was to be in a little more than two years. The new stadium, the St. Jakob-Park, was to be an all seater, the old stadium had standing places on three sides.

The club's priority aim was to remain in the top flight of Swiss football. The season started fairly well, with five victories and three draws in the first ten rounds. However, seven defeats in the next nine rounds let the team slip down into the bottom areas of the table. Basel ende the qualification stage with eight victories, four draws and ten defeats, with just 21 goals scored and 34 conceded, with 28 points in sixth position in the league table. With this tally they were qualified for Champions Group for the second half of the season. With an average second half of the season, winning five games, drawing four and losing five, Basel in the league tables fifth position, managed to qualify for the 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup. With four goals in the qualification round and six in the championship round Mario Frick was the team's top goal scorer.^[2]

All eyes were set on the cup season. But despite a draw against lower classed Stade Nyonnais, Basel's cup season came to an abrupt end, because they were unable to pass this hurdle, losing the match on penalties. Lausanne-Sport won the Swiss Cup final on 13 June 199 in the Wankdorf Stadium, winning 2–0 against Grasshopper Club.^[3]

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 18 July 1998 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; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SUI Stefan Huber 2 DF  SUI Massimo Ceccaroni 3 DF  SUI Luís Calapes 4 DF  SUI Theodoros Disseris (on loan to Winterthur) 5 DF  GER Oliver Kreuzer 6 DF  SUI Philippe Cravero 7 FW  LIE Marco Pérez 8 MF  LIE Mario Frick 9 MF  FRA Fabrice Henry 10 MF  RUS Aleksandr Rytchkov 11 FW  SUI Deniz Mendi 12 DF  SUI Sébastien Barberis 13 DF  SUI Marco Tschopp 14 FW  RUS Daniel Dobrovoljski

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  SUI Ivan Reimann 17 MF  CZE Václav Pěchouček 18 GK  SUI Slaven Matan 19 DF  SUI Fabinho 20 DF  SUI Oumar Kondé (to Blackburn) 21 MF  BRA Argemiro Veiga 22 MF  TUR Atilla Sahin 23 DF  SUI Benjamin Huggel 24 DF  BRA Abedi 25 MF  CIV Ahmed Ouattara 26 FW  SUI Mario Cantaluppi 27 FW  SUI Carlos Varela 28 DF  ROU Dan Potocianu 29 FW  SUI Urs Güntensperger 30 FW  TUR Cetin Güner

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 6 DF  SUI Philippe Cravero (from Etoile Carouge) 10 MF  RUS Aleksandr Rytchkov (from 1. FC Köln) 21 MF  BRA Argemiro Veiga (from Sion) 22 MF  TUR Atilla Sahin (from SV Muttenz) 23 DF  SUI Benjamin Huggel (from FC Arlesheim)

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 DF  BRA Abedi (from Sion) 25 MF  CIV Ahmed Ouattara (from Sion) 26 FW  SUI Mario Cantaluppi (from Servette) 27 FW  SUI Carlos Varela (from Servette) 28 DF  ROU Dan Potocianu (from Servette) 29 FW  SUI Urs Güntensperger (from Lausanne-Sport) 30 FW  TUR Cetin Güner (from Borussia Dortmund)

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 3 DF  SUI Daniel Salvi (unknown, end of career) 7 FW  SUI Dario Zuffi (to Winterthur) 10 MF  GER Maurizio Gaudino (to VfL Bochum) 13 FW  SUI Adrian Knup (retired, end of career)

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 DF  GER Jürgen Hartmann (retired end of career) 22 MF  BRA Webber (Leandro Dos Santos) (unknown) 23 DF  SUI Jan Berger (to Aarau) 24 DF  BRA Fabinho Santos (to Joinville) 27 FW  SUI Alexander Frei (to Thun)

Legend

  Win   Draw   Loss   Postponed

Sion v Basel

24 June 1998 Pre-season	Sion	0 – 1	Basel	Stade St-Laurent, Saillon
14:30		Summary	25' (0:1) Kreuzer	Attendance: 300 Referee: Claude Détruche

Lausanne-Sport v Basel

27 June 1998 Pre-season	Lausanne-Sport	5 – 0	Basel	Stade des Condémines, Sierre
18:00	Udovič 42' (1:0) Thurre 44' (2:0) Da Silva 57' (3:0) Rehn 60' (4:0) Celestini 65' (5:0)	Summary	60' Rytchkov	Attendance: 500 Referee: André Daina, (Eclépens)

Basel v Galatasaray

4 July 1998 Pre-season	Basel	2 – 3	Galatasaray	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
19:00	Frick 4' (1:0) Rytchkov 64' (2:3)	Summary	11' (1:1) Şükür 30' (pen. 1:2) Belözoğlu 44' (1:3) Belözoğlu  71' Kerimoglu	Attendance: 2,800 Referee: Andreas Schluchter

Basel v Grasshopper Club

7 July 1998 Pre-season	Basel	0 – 2	Grasshopper Club	Im Nau, Laufen
19:00		Summary	81' (0:1) Tikva 90' (0:2) Tikva	Attendance: 900 Referee: Massimo Busacca

Basel v Karlsruher SC

10 July 1998 Pre-season	Basel	1 – 1	Karlsruher SC	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
19:00	Tschopp 34' (1:0)	Summary	66' (1:1) Gilewicz	Attendance: 1,200 Referee: Andreas Schluchter

Basel v RC Strasbourg

3 September 1998 Mid-season	Basel	1 – 1	RC Strasbourg	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
19:00	Rytchkov 27' (1:1)	Summary	16' (0:1) Bertin  19' Beye  81' Frank	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Andreas Schluchter

Basel v Olympique de Marseille

9 October 1998 Mid-season	Basel	0 – 4	Olympique de Marseille	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
19:00		Summary	18' (1:0) Ravanelli 20' (2:0) Moses 37' (0:3) Camara 89' (0:4) Domoraud	Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Urs Meier

Thun v Basel

20 January 1999 Winter break	Thun	4 – 3	Basel	Burgerallee, Thun
19:30	William 18' (1:0) Halef 75' (pen. 2:3) Raimondi 89' (3:3) Simonjic 90' (4:3)	Summary	21' (1:1) Tschopp 32' (1:2) Fabinho 48' (1:3) Frick	Attendance: 350 Referee: Jürg Burkhart

Martinique 11 v Basel

27 January 1999 Trainings camp	Martinique 11	2 – 2	Basel	Stade Georges-Gratiant, Le Lamentin, Martinique
	Percin  45' Rano 56' (1:1) Rano 86' (2:2)	Summary	5' (0:1) Fabinho  34' Reimann  45' Kreuzer 62' (1:2) Tschopp	Attendance: 500 Referee: André Elbène

Aiglon/U.S. Robert v Basel

21 January 1999 Trainings camp	Aiglon/U.S. Robert	0 – 1	Basel	Stade Georges-Gratiant, Le Lamentin, Martinique
	St. Home  52' Gibon  60'	Summary	62' Sahin 65' (0:1) Frick	Attendance: 350 Referee: Guy Bellance

Stade Spiritain v Basel

1 February 1999 Trainings camp	Stade Spiritain	1 – 7	Basel	Stade Municipal, Saint-Esprit, Martinique
	J.-P.Party 17' (1:0)	Summary	25' (1:1) Fabinho 32' (1:2) Fabinho 44' (1:3) Frick 59' (1:4) Fabinho 74' (1:5) Fabinho 81' (1:6) Barberis 85' (1:7) Mendi	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Alex Jacquens

SR Delémont v Basel

10 February 1999 Winter break	SR Delémont	0 – 0	Basel	Parc des Sports, Delémont
19:00		Summary		Attendance: 50 Referee: Stéphane Monaco

Étoile Carouge v Basel

13 February 1999 Winter break	Étoile Carouge	2 – 1	Basel	Stade de la Fontenette, Carouge
		Summary	Reimann	Referee:  ?
Note: FCB reserves strengthened with players from the first team. At the same time the first team played another test match against FC Meyrin

FC Meyrin v Basel

13 February 1999 Winter break	FC Meyrin	0 – 2	Basel	Stade des Arbères, Meyrin
		Summary	(1:0) Mendi (2:0) Abedi	Referee:  ?
Note: Basel strengthened with FCB reserves. At the same time the reserve team played another friendly against Étoile Carouge

Eintracht Trier v Basel

17 February 1999 Winter break	Eintracht Trier	4 – 1	Basel	Moselstadion, Trier
17:00	Thömmes 11' (1:0) Thömmes 31' (2:0) Melunović 43' (3:0) Papić 66' (4:1)	Summary	48' (3:1) Abedi	Attendance: 250 Referee: Michael Herrmann

Basel v Sochaux

25 March 1999 Mid-season	Basel	0 – 0	Sochaux	Stadion Rankhof, Basel
18:00		Summary	62' Santini	Attendance: 300 Referee: Andreas Schluchter
Note: 2 test goalkeeper Christian Sturm (U–19) und Davide Taini (FC Singen 04) each 45 minutes

SC Dornach v Basel

31 March 1999 Mid-season	SC Dornach	2 – 3	Basel	Gigersloch, Dornach
18:00	Weidmann 25' (1:1) Manz 39' (2:2)	Summary	20' (0:1) Türk 29' (1:2) Tschopp 55' (2:3) Henry	Attendance: 200 Referee: René Rogalla

SR Delémont v Basel

2 April 1999 Mid-season	SR Delémont	1 – 0	Basel	Im Nau, Laufen
18:00	Romano 37' (1:0)	Summary		Attendance: 450 Referee: Markus Nobs, (Wohlen)

Basel v Sion

18 July 1998 Round 1	Basel	0 – 0	Sion	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
19:30	Disseris  4' Ceccaroni  24'	Report	22' Tholot  61' Eydelie  77' Lipawsky	Attendance: 9,000 Referee: Philippe Leuba

Aarau v Basel

21 July 1998 Round 2	Aarau	5 – 0	Basel	Stadion Brügglifeld, Aarau
19:30	Aleksandrov 8' (1:0) Ivanov 21' (2:0) Aleksandrov 51' (3:0) Aleksandrov 65' (4:0) Heldmann 70' (5:0) Zitola  87'	Report	12' Pérez	Attendance: 5,900 Referee: Reto Rutz

Basel v Zürich

25 July 1998 Round 3	Basel	2 – 1	Zürich	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
19:30	Tschopp  3' Rytchkov 25' (1:0) Rytchkov  44' Sahin 45' (2:0) Reimann  64'	Report	27' Sant'Anna  30' Castillo 64' (pen. 2:1) Sant'Anna  82' Di Jorio	Attendance: 8,500 Referee: Dieter Schoch

Servette v Basel

1 August 1998 Round 4	Servette	3 – 1	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
17:30	Juárez  9' Rey 13' (pen. 1:0) Rey 19' (2:0) Rey 23' (3:0) Fournier  31' Rey  59'	Report	35' Reimann  68' Kreuzer 84' (3:1) Abedi	Attendance: 4,100 Referee: Roberto Ferrari

Basel v Luzern

9 August 1998 Round 5	Basel	1 – 0	Luzern	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
16:15	Kondé  69' Tschopp 75' (1:0)	Report	60' Moser  82' Wyss	Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Carlo Bertolini

Basel v Xamax

15 August 1998 Round 6	Basel	2 – 0	Xamax	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
19:30	Ouattara 64' (pen. 1:0) Tschopp  82' Kreuzer  90+2' Pérez 90+5' (2:0)	Report	2' Njanka  23' Wittl  58' Rueda  59' Zambaz	Attendance: 10,500 Referee: Urs Meier

St. Gallen v Basel

23 August 1998 Round 7	St. Gallen	0 – 1	Basel	Espenmoos, St. Gallen
16:15	Hellinga  22' Vurens  33'	Report	40' Kreuzer  43' Kondé 70' (0:1) Rytchkov  72' Veiga  75' Tschopp  90+3' Reimann	Attendance: 9,700 Referee: Dominique Tavel

Basel v Grasshopper Club

29 August 1998 Round 8	Basel	1 – 1	Grasshopper Club	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
19:30	Ouattara 9' (1:0) Rytchkov  15' Cravero  20' Pérez  90+1'	Report	20' Vogel  29' Tararache  51' Nkufo  62' Magnin 70' (1:1) de Napoli	Attendance: 26,600 Referee: Roland Beck

Lausanne-Sport v Basel

8 September 1998 Round 9	Lausanne-Sport	0 – 2	Basel	Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne
19:30	Celestini  24' Piffaretti  34'	Report	12' (0:1) Rytchkov  18'  58' Kondé  40' Reimann  50' Rytchkov  61' Ceccaroni 69' (0:2) Rytchkov	Attendance: 5,900 Referee: Massimo Busacca

Basel v Young Boys

12 September 1998 Round 10	Basel	1 – 1	Young Boys	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
19:30	Ouattara  24' Frick 57' (1:1) Barberis  77'	Report	21' Pintul  33' Baumann 40' (0:1) Bekirovski  50' Bekirovski  75' Kehrli	Attendance: 16,000 Referee: André Daina

Lugano v Basel

19 September 1998 Round 11	Lugano	5 – 1	Basel	Cornaredo, Lugano
19:30	Gaspoz 18' (1:0) Wegmann  30' Orlando 38' (2:0) Giménez 49' (3:0) Giménez 58' (4:0) Giallanza 87' (pen. 5:1)	Summary	74' (4:1) Rytchkov	Attendance: 4,380 Referee: Marcus Nobs

Sion v Basel

27 September 1998 Round 12	Sion	1 – 0	Basel	Stade Tourbillon, Sion
16:15	Bertone  13' Benson  24' Tholot 37' (1:0) Tholot  40' Allenspach  86'	Summary	49' Kondé	Attendance: 6,900 Referee: Dominique Tavel

Basel v Aarau

4 October 1998 Round 13	Basel	1 – 0	Aarau	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
16:15	Ouattara 50' (1:0) Abedi  69'	Summary	55' Markovic	Attendance: 7,300 Referee: Marcel Vollenweider

Zürich v Basel

16 October 1998 Round 14	Zürich	1 – 0	Basel	Letzigrund, Zürich
19:30	Fischer  26' Sant'Anna  29' Chassot 58' (1:0)	Summary	10' Cravero  27' Tschopp  45' Frick  59' Ouattara  77' Calapes	Attendance: 11,300 Referee: Roland Beck

Basel v Servette

25 October 1998 Round 15	Basel	0 – 2	Servette	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
16:15	Rytchkov  56' Tschopp  87'	Summary	9' (0:1) Durix 45' (0:2) Durix  63' Juarez  79' Varela	Attendance: 9,800 Referee: Philippe Leuba

Luzern v Basel

31 October 1998 Round 16	Luzern	4 – 1	Basel	Stadion Allmend, Luzern
17:30	Izzo  5' Koch 28' (1:1) Koch 53' (2:1) Brunner 60' (3:1) van Eck  71' Moser 75' (4:1)	Summary	11' Huber 19' (0:1) Frick	Attendance: 7,960 Referee: Carlo Bertolini

Xamax v Basel

7 November 1998 Round 17	Xamax	3 – 1	Basel	Stade de la Maladière (1924), Neuchâtel
17:30	N'Diaye 8' (1:0) N'Diaye  36' Rueda  42' Njanka  44' Isabella 90' (2:1) N'Do 90+2' (3:1)	Summary	25' (1:1) Frick  39'  42' Frick  52' Tschopp	Attendance: 8,100 Referee: Claude Détruche

Basel v St. Gallen

17 November 1998 Round 18	Basel	1 – 0	St. Gallen	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
16:15	Tschopp 8' (1:0) Reimann  16' Sahin  21' Veiga  68'	Summary	31' Zellweger  35' Zinna	Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Roberto Ferrari

Grasshopper Club v Basel

21 November 1998 Round 19	Grasshopper Club	2 – 1	Basel	Hardturm, Zürich
17:30	Tikva 47' (1:0) Tararache  73' Türkyilmaz 80' (2:0) Mazzarelli  90'	Summary	73' Ceccaroni 88' (2:1) Pérez	Attendance: 7,800 Referee: Dominique Tavel

Basel v Lausanne-Sport

28 November 1998 Round 20	Basel	1 – 1	Lausanne-Sport	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
17:30	Frick 3' (1:0) Rytchkov  49' Reimann  61' Barberis  67' Ceccaroni  73'	Summary	13' Iglesias 31' (1:1)  62' Pantelić  73' Thurre	Attendance: 5,900 Referee: Roland Beck

Young Boys v Basel

6 December 1998 Round 21	Young Boys	1 – 2	Basel	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern
14:30	Streun  67' Sawu 69' (1:2)	Summary	6' (0:1) Rytchkov  28' Kreuzer  30' Veiga  46' Smajić 57' (0:2) Tschopp	Attendance: 5,300 Referee: Urs Meier

Basel v Lugano

13 December 1998 Round 22	Basel	1 – 3	Lugano	St. Jakob Stadium, Basel
16:15	Cravero  12' Tschopp 45' (pen. 1:0)	Summary	19' Wegmann  43' Hürzeler  44' Tejeda 72' (1:0) Wegmann 79' (2:0) Wegmann 80' Lombardo	Attendance: 34,745 Referee: Reto Rutz

Luzern v Basel

28 February 1999 Round 1	Luzern	0 – 2	Basel	Stadion Allmend, Luzern
16:15	Stepanović  21' Koch  73' Knez  71'  83'	Summary	33' (0:1)  29' Abedi  49' Barberis 89' (0:2) Frick	Attendance: 7,930 Referee: Urs Meier

Basel v Xamax

7 March 1999 Round 2	Basel	1 – 0	Xamax	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
14:30	Cravero  5' Abedi 36' (1:0) Kreuzer  38' Barberis  46'	Summary	26' Simo  53' Njanka	Attendance: 4,250 Referee: Roland Beck

Servette v Basel

13 March 1999 Round 3	Servette	2 – 1	Basel	Charmilles Stadium, Geneva
19:30	Wolf 34' (1:0) Rey 38' (2:0)	Summary	20' Henry  60' Varela  61' Ceccaroni 71' (2:1) Fabinho	Attendance: 6,657 Referee: Philippe Leuba

Basel v Zürich

21 March 1999 Round 4	Basel	1 – 0	Zürich	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
14:30	Cravero  8' Varela  29' Pérez 51' (pen. 1:0) Calapes  52' Cantaluppi  62'	Summary	24'  45' Di Jorio  58' Wiederkehr	Attendance: 7,500 Referee: Carlo Bertolini

Grasshopper Club v Basel

5 April 1999 Round 5	Grasshopper Club	4 – 2	Basel	Hardturm, Zürich
16:15	de Napoli 5' (1:0) de Napoli 6' (2:0) Tikva 11' (3:0) de Napoli 52' (4:0) Comisetti  57'	Summary	58' Barberis  59' Fabinho 79' (4:1) Varela 90+1' (4:2) Frick	Attendance: 10,500 Referee: Dominique Tavel

Basel v Lausanne-Sport

10 April 1999 Round 6	Basel	1 – 2	Lausanne-Sport	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
19:30	Calapes  36' Frick 60' (1:2)	Summary	6' Thurre 12' (0:1) Gerber 54' (o.g. 0:2) Kreuzer  73' Puce  83' Hänzi	Attendance: 5,315 Referee: Dieter Schoch

Basel v St. Gallen

18 April 1999 Round 7	Basel	3 – 3	St. Gallen	Stadion Schützenmatte, Basel
16:15	Frick 56' (1:1) Cantaluppi 58' (pen. 2:1) Henry  64' Kreuzer 79' (3:2) Barberis  90+4'	Summary	30' Thüler  42' Hellinga 45' (0:1) Contini  60' Tsawa 70' (2:2) Müller  90' Gil 90+5' (3:3) Jairo	Attendance: 4,057 Referee: Claude Détruche