Hiddink slates Perugia boss

Jason Neely13 April 2012

South Korea coach Guus Hiddink has branded the chairman of Italian club Perugia "childish" for his decision to sack striker Ahn Jung Hwan.

Luciano Gaucci said he would no longer employ Ahn whose 'golden goal' eliminated Italy from the World Cup on Tuesday and put the co-hosts into the last eight.

"It is a childish reaction," Hiddink said at a training session today.

"You have to think of sports, and sports means players are all playing in different countries.

"If there's England-France, do they say to [Frank] Leboeuf, do they say to [Marcel] Desailly, they cannot score against England from a corner-kick? It's almost too ridiculous to talk about."

FIFA said today it would not intervene in the decision by Perugia to sack Ahn after he scored the 116th-minute goal that put South Korea into the quarterfinals.

"It's between the player and the club," FIFA communications director Keith Cooper said. "It's not for us to interfere. No one has complained to us."

Italy reacted with fury to the team's shock 2-1 elimination in the second round.

They accused Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno of playing a role in the defeat by showing playmaker Francesco Totti a red card, a call which prompted coach Giovanni Trapattoni to punch the glass behind the team bench, right in front of a FIFA official standing on the opposite side of it.

As the squad prepared to leave South Korea today, local media said players refused to sign autographs for fans at the airport.

Meanwhile Perugia's Gaucci told sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport that Ahn would never set foot in Perugia again.

"He was a phenomenon only when he played against Italy. I am a nationalist and I regard such behaviour not only as an affront to Italian pride but also an offence to a country which two years ago opened its doors to him," he said.

"I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian soccer."

Ahn has been on loan to Perugia, who finished mid-table in Serie A last season, from South Korean club side Pusan I.cons since 2000, but has struggled to hold down a regular place in the team.

Even before the win over Italy, media reports had suggested that Ahn would be released by Perugia, with English and German clubs among those interested in signing him.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT