SOUTH KOREA: DEFEATED ITALIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD MOVE BACK TO SEOUL BEFORE THEIR DEPARTURE BACK TO ROME/ ITALIAN CLUB PERUGIA SACK SOUTH KOREAN GOLDEN GOAL HERO AHN JUNG-HWAN

Record ID: 640659

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: DEFEATED ITALIAN WORLD CUP SQUAD MOVE BACK TO SEOUL BEFORE THEIR DEPARTURE BACK TO ROME/ ITALIAN CLUB PERUGIA SACK SOUTH KOREAN GOLDEN GOAL HERO AHN JUNG-HWAN
  • Date: 19th June 2002
  • Summary: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (RECENT) (REUTERS) AHN JUNG-HWAN (LONG HAIR) TRAINING SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA (JUNE 19, 2002) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ITALIAN PLAYERS SIGNING AUTOGRAPHS AND TALKING TO FANS Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA
  • Country: South Korea
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA2I8E59OP630P87366LGPHRNC2
  • Story Text: The Italian World Cup squad tried to put conspiracy theories and their loss to South Korea behind them on Wednesday (June 19), moving into a luxury down town Seoul hotel before their departure for Rome.
    Any team would be angry if they had been eliminated from the World Cup like Italy were against South Korea.
    But surely no other team, especially if they were former world champions and one of the soccer powers of Europe, would have behaved with such uncontrolled fury as Italy have in the past 24 hours.
    Players, press, officials and the public are seriously suggesting that there was a plot involving referees to get rid of Italy, one of the most popular teams at the World Cup and one of the few remaining "elite" teams.
    The Italians had four goals disallowed in three matches and a series of questionable decisions go against them before Tuesday's (June 18) second round match against co-hosts South Korea in Taejon.
    In the match itself, Italy had another goal disallowed, conceded a penalty and had Francesco Totti sent off by Ecuadorean referee Byron Moreno before Ahn Jung-Hwan headed South Korea into the quarter-finals four minutes from the end of extra time.
    Ahn, who plays for Italian club Perugia, has since learnt that the chairman of the club Luciano Gaucci has told the sports' daily La Gazzetta dello Sport "That gentleman will 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," Gaucci was quoted as saying.
    "I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian soccer."
    Ahn joined Perugia on loan from the South Korean team Pusan I.cons in the summer of 2000. He scored five goals in 29 appearances.
    A Perugia spokesman said on Wednesday the club had virtually decided to release Ahn even before the World Cup tie.
    The history of the World Cup, like any other sporting competition, is littered with controversy and recriminations, and referees on the global stage are as capable of error as anywhere else.
    But while most neutrals have recognised that, they are less willing to accept that the Italians are the victims of a campaign, hatched by the Koreans, the referees or anyone else, to eliminate them from the competition.
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