Sacked for Scoring a World Cup Winner – Soccer’s Wildest Stories
Soccer’s wildest stories: The forward’s controversial extra-time strike made him a national hero, did not go down well, he sacked for scoring a World Cup winner goal. The forward’s controversial extra-time strike made him a national hero, but it did not go down well with his club side, Perugia
The 2002 World Cup featured no end of shocks and surprises. The first to be hosted in Asia, South Korea and Japan opened the door to the world and invited the likes of England’s ‘Golden Generation’, Luiz Felipe Scolari’s effervescent Brazil and the reigning world champions France, who somehow conspired to finish bottom of their group.
South Korea and Turkey, though, would steal headlines as a pair of dark horses that came within 90 minutes each of the final. The former were beaten 1-0 by Germany in the semi-finals – Turkey lost to Brazil – but only after a remarkable run that saw them beat out Portugal and the United States to top Group D, before beating Italy in the last 16.
That game, however, led to one of the most unbelievable tales in top-level football history, as bitter Perugia – as described by The Guardian – ‘sacked’ Korea’s match-winner Ahn Jung-hwan for his role in the Azzurri’s elimination amid a maelstrom of controversy and allegations.