Serie A - 'The man who ruined Italian football' to retire

Fri, 27 Jan 11:18:00 2012

South Korea's 2002 World Cup hero Ahn Jung-Hwan will retire next week, according to his agents Moro Sports Korea.

Jung-Hwan Ahn - 0

Ahn, 36, headed the golden goal which eliminated Italy from the tournament which Korea co-hosted with Japan.

He also missed a fourth-minute penalty in that game, won 2-1 by Korea.

There was controversy following the game, with the president of his Serie A club Perugia, Luciano Gaucci, immediately announcing that he was sacked as "I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian football".

He later backtracked, but Ahn refused to play for the club again.

South Korea went on to win their quarter-final against Spain on penalties after a goalless draw then lose 1-0 in the semi-finals against Germany.

Ahn also featured for Metz in France and MSV Duisburg in Germany, as well as several Asian sides.

The attacker most recently played for Chinese side Dalian Shide.

Eurosport

Comment 1 - 9 of 9

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  1. Juventus is not to blame for Italian Football it was­ Moggi who was our Director for the Club who with Other­ 5 Refs where match fixing games not just for Juventus­ but A.C Milan and another Club but we Juventus were­ punished more than any other club for it which was not­ fair.....but my point is in that match against Korea­ the dirty Ref made Italy lose out a potential Semi­ Final and Korea wasnt all that and did not deserve to­ go through plus Spartacus for your comment it clearly­ shows you dont know Football that well so watch what­ you say tosser! W JUVENTUS SEMPRE!!!!!!!!

    From claudioamorosi, on Sun 29 Jan 11:11AM

  2. Is he already 36?!

    From Fabio, on Sat 28 Jan 4:04PM

  3. read before commenting ret*rds lol......

    From mahmoud, on Sat 28 Jan 9:39AM

  4. Do people not read articles before commenting?

    The­ 'ruined Italian football' is a quote.

    From tinkb15, on Fri 27 Jan 5:35PM

  5. blame some poor korean kid!!! never mind all the shady­ back sliding dealings that go on in the corrupt game­ of italian football,juventus ruined it you tosser not­ him!!!

    From spartacus, on Fri 27 Jan 3:56PM

  6. Ruin Italian football!!...Italy won the World Cup in­ 2006.....Idiot whoever wrote this article.

    From abc123, on Fri 27 Jan 3:23PM

  7. #2 try reading the article for a change.

    From Magnus Thor, on Fri 27 Jan 3:10PM

  8. @ Eurosport

    What do you mean by "Ruined",­ Italy won the next world cup in 2006. Can't you use­ proper word?

    From M, on Fri 27 Jan 1:12PM

  9. Controversy 'following' the match? How about­ the controversy 'during' the match? You­ can't take anything away from the player, Ahn, who­ did very well, but that result was a farce. Italy­ dominated but had goals wrongly disallowed and had­ Totti sent off for being fouled. The ref, Moreno, was­ publically criticised (even by FIFA) for his­ performance.
    But what really stands out is Moreno's­ life after the world cup. Arrested for smuggling drugs­ and twice suspended for manipulating key matches he­ refereed to the benefit of his favourite team­ Universitaria.
    So yeah, Ahn didn't have anything to­ do with 'ruining Italian football'. Don't­ blame the poor guy for playing a game.

    From blythesimon, on Fri 27 Jan 1:11PM
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