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South Korea's Ahn prepared to repeat golden goal heroics
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-02-07 09:32
DUISBURG, Germany (AFP) - South Korean icon Ahn Jung-hwan is confident his
Bundesliga club MSV Duisburg will not send him packing if he scores a golden
goal to put hosts Germany out of the 2006 World Cup.
Ahn
Jung-hwan | Ahn scored the golden goal as
co-hosts South Korea triumphed 2-1 in the second round match against Italy at
the 2002 World Cup but the strike had unforseen consequences.
After helping South Korea to reach the semi-finals Ahn returned to Italy,
where he played for Serie A club Perugia, and soon discovered things had
changed.
Perugia president Luciano Gaucci said he would not pay the salary of someone
who had ruined Italian football and Ahn bid 'arrivederci' to Italy joining
Japanese side Shimizu S-Pulse in 2002.
"I don't think that will ever happen again," Ahn said in an interview with
Kicker magazine.
"I can not imagine Duisburg telling me to leave if I score against Germany at
the World Cup. What happened in Perugia was a one-off."
The 30-year-old Ahn, capped 58 times for his country, spent two seasons in
Japan before joining French side Metz in the summer of 2005.
"It is wrong to say I did not cut it at Metz," explained Ahn. "I played on
the left hand side of midfield and that was not good for the team or me. That is
why I wanted to leave."
Unfashionable Duisburg snapped up Ahn, who is considered a pin-up in his
homeland having married former Miss South Korea Hye-Won Lee, in January but the
player insists the move does not spell his last opportunity to prove himself in
Europe.
"Of course I want to play well here at Duisburg but I would think it is not
my last chance," Ahn said. "I hope to play football for a few years yet."
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