Ahn Jung Hwan

Name: Ahn Jung Hwan
Birth Date: January 27 1976
Birth Place: 233 Doopo-ri, Papyung-myeon, Paju city, Kyoungki Province,
Birth Nation: Republic of Korea
Height: 178cm
Weight: 78Kg
Nationality: South Korean
Position: Foward, Offensive Midfielder

Ahn Jung-Hwan (born January 27, 1976 in Paju, Gyeonggi) is a South Korean football player; he made world headlines by scoring the winning golden goal for Korea against Italy in the 2002 World Cup second round and sending Korea into the quarter finals.

At the time, Ahn was on loan at Italian league side Perugia. His extra-time header dumped the three-time champions from the World Cup. The next day, Perugia owner Luciano Gaucci was quoted by the Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport as saying, “I am not going to pay the salary of a guy who has been the ruin of Italian soccer.” Perugia later took back what they said, and offered to outright buy Ahn’s contract, but Ahn rejected it saying “I will no longer discuss my transfer to Perugia, which attacked my character instead of congratulating me for a goal in the World Cup.”

Ahn then attempted to secure a permanent move to a European club but failed, and returned to Asia, joining the J. League with Shimizu S-Pulse. After one season there, he moved to another J. League team, Yokohama F Marinos. After this successful spell in Japan, he returned to Europe to play for French team FC Metz in July 2005.

Prior to moving to Europe, Ahn played in the K-League with Daewoo Royals, now known as Busan I’Park.

On the 16th of January 2006 Ahn was invited to train with Blackburn Rovers but twice failed to show up.

In February 2006 he secured a 17-month deal with MSV Duisburg in Germany. However, Ahn is currently linked with a move to Hearts of SPL and several other European teams.

Ahn is married to former Ms. Korea, Lee Hye-Won.

Ahn Jung-Hwan is sometimes called “the Lord of the Ring” by Korean fans. He got this nickname by kissing his marriage ring after every goal he scores.

During the 2002 World Cup Ahn scored the tying goal late in Korea’s match with the USA. After scoring the goal he performed a goal celebration with his teammates, mimmicing the movements of a speed skater. Six months earlier, during the 2002 Winter Olympics a Korean speedskater, Kim Dong-Sung was questionably disqualified for “cross tracking” American skater Apollo Anton Ohno in their 1500m short track event. Because of the disqualification, Ohno won the gold medal even though Kim passed the finish line first. Ahn’s celebration was a form of protest against the ISU’s decision, which many Koreans felt was favoritism towards the USA.

Clubs:
1998-2000 Busan Daewoo Royals
2000-2002 AC Perugia
2002-2003 Shimizu S-Pulse
2004-2005 Yokohama F Marinos
2005-2006 FC Metz
2006-current MSV Duisburg

In the summer of 2002 Ahn Jung-hwan was one of the biggest names in world football. He provoked questions in the House of Commons, bile in parts of Italy and adulation in Korea and headlines talking of a shift in the balance of power in the world of football.. Two years on, the striker should, in theory, be at his peak, yet there are still more questions than answers about the mercurial Korean.

Born a stone’s throw away from the South Korea’s border with the North, The Lord of the Ring’s (a nickname earned due to his trademark wedding ring-kissing goal celebration) journey started on Korea’s south coast with the Daewoo Royals (now Busan I’cons). From 1998-2000, 87 games for the south coast team yielded an impressive 44 goals and a move on loan to Serie A side, Perugia.

The successful Hidetoshi Nakata has just left Perugia, giving Ahn a tough act to follow. The Korean press and fans dearly wanted their player to show that Korea’s best export was better than Japan’s. Unfortunately, the K-League’s most valuable player of 1999 struggled in Central Italy. In two seasons at the club, the then pony-tailed striker spent most of his time on the bench only making 29 appearances and scoring 5 goals.

Despite the difficult time he was going through on the pitch, Ahn’s attitude on the occasions he returned to Korea did little to dispel doubts that he hadn’t allowed his good looks, famous club, former Miss Korea girlfriend (now wife) and star status in Korea to go to his well-groomed head. When Guus Hiddink took over the reins of the Korea team in December 2000, he made it clear that he wasn’t going to pick the team on reputation.

“When I first saw Ahn Jung-hwan he was really terrible”, said the Dutchman. “I think he was conceited because he was playing in Italy. I thought I had to shake him up a bit. I teased, ‘Who knows you in Italy?’ Probably the people of Perugia know that Ahn Jung-hwan washes the benches.”

Fortunately for Ahn and Korea but maybe less so for Italy, the then 25-year-old listened to the wily Hiddink. He knew what I was saying and started to apply himself.

In his last match against an Italian team, Perugia’s not-so-super sub rose above an aging Paolo Maldini to nod in the golden goal that sent his country crazy. Perugia’s President Luciano Guacci reportedly said that Ahn would never set foot in Italy again. “He was a phenomenon only against Italy and I have no intention of paying the salary of someone who has ruined Italian soccer”.

Guacci later backtracked but the row ensured that Perugia would have to find another bench-warmer. It seemed to matter little as surely offers would be pouring in for one of the stars of the tournament.

There was talk of offers from English, Spanish and German clubs but strangely, nothing concrete seemed to materialise, maybe Ahn’s poor record in Italy scared clubs off. The closest the World Cup hero seemed to get was a move to Blackburn Rovers which fell through due to work permit problems.

Frustrated in his attempts to move back to Europe, Asia’s answer to David Beckham looked eastwards to Japan. In September 2002, he joined Shimuzu S-Pulse. Ahn performed well but was looking for a bigger and better stage than could be provided by the team based in the city of Shizuoka. In January 2004, J-League Champions Yokohama Marinos snapped up the Korean star on a one-year contract. The striker still hasn’t given up on his European dream - as he recently said on Korea TV that he still intends to move to Europe otherwise he would have signed a longer deal with Yokohama.

His performances for the defending Japanese Champions suggest that he still has much to offer, after a fairly slow start the ‘Lord of the Ring’ came alive and his four goals in the final four games helped Yokohama clinch the first stage title. Despite his repeated wish to return to Europe, a growing number of his Korean fans have cast doubt on his ambition, claiming that he is happy in the safety zone of East Asia and has no desire to revisit his Italian experience. Others have mischievously opined that the star wishes to be close to his troublesome mum who has served time for fraud and has had gambling problems.

Although his form for his club is improving all the time, his international career seems to be at a crossroads. Ahn has been a regular starter for the national team since the World Cup without quite becoming an automatic choice. The Asian Cupwhich started in July seemed to be the perfect stage to show new coach Jo Bonfrere that he was the man to lead the Korean attack. Unfortunately the tournament did not go well for player or country.

Ahn started only one of Korea’s four games in China, the opening goalless draw with Jordan. Subsequently, Ahn was reduced to a role that was uncomfortably familiar to him: as a substitute. Despite scoring two goals in this role, the former coach of Nigeria, Qatar and the UAE did not seem to be impressed. The Dutchman claimed that Ahn lacked stamina and wasn’t able to play a full game. If this was true, it could have consoled the talented striker but unfortunately, Bonfrere added that it didn’t really matter anyway as Ahn was replaceable unlike the similarly unfit Park Ji-sung of PSV.

It all seems a little unfair on the Korean. His ‘meterosexual’ image and good looks have helped to make him wildly popular in Korea but it is a double-edged sword, drawing criticism that he is more concerned with commercials than footballs. It is true that his face can often be seen on billboards and newspapers in Korea but the fact remains that Ahn Jung-hwan still is one of the few Korean players who can do something out of the ordinary. His recent wonder goal against Vietnam in the World Cup Qualifiers is proof of that.

The moment of truth will come next January as Korea’s most marketable player finishes his contract and turns 29.
It will be then or never.

Ahn Jung-Hwan rose to fame in the 2002 World Cup when Perugia Chairman, Luciano Gaucci promised that Ahn ‘would never set foot in Perugia again.’ after Ahn scored the ‘Golden Goal’ in South Korea’s 2-1 win over Italy in the second round of the World Cup which knocked Italy out of that tournament

Gaucci later denied he made the above remarks but Ahn had already refused to go back to Serie A side Perugia which he had been on loan with for the previous two years from Korean league team, Busan I’cons

Ahn was hoping to secure a contract with a top European club after South Korea reached the semi-finals of the 2002 World Cup and he nearly moved to English premier league side, Blackburn Rovers but the immigration office denied him a work permit.
He was also linked with a number of other European clubs but was unable to tie up a suitable move.

Ahn was then offered a move to Japanese league side Shimizu S-Pulse and on September 16 2002 the South Korean World Cup hero joined S-Pulse on a one year contract with an estimated annual salary of $491,800 dollars

His first appearance for S-Pulse was on 28 September 2002 against Urawa Reds (at Nihondaira Stadium) and has quickly become a firm favourite with the Shimizu supporters

More Info:
Ahn Jung Hwan’s Official
Ahn Jung Hwan at Japan Today
Ahn Jung Hwan’s at Web Japan
Ahn Jung Hwan Sporting Hero

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