Soccer: Ahn sacking so 'childish'

TAEJON - South Korea coach Guus Hiddink has called 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 South Korea into the last eight.

"It's a childish reaction," Hiddink said. "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 [at a] corner kick? It's almost too ridiculous to talk about."

Fifa said yesterday 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 quarter-finals.

"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."

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

They accused Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno of playing a role in the defeat by showing playmaker Francesco Totti a red card.

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

- REUTERS

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