Blame Game
By DONALD MACINTYRE Seoul
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GIAMPIERO SPOSITO/REUTERS
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Virtually the only person italian officials did not blame for their team's shock defeat by South Korea was Osama bin Laden. Italy, the country that invented vendetta, wasn't content merely to point fingers, either. Someone had to take the fall. The victim: Ahn Jung Hwan, who scored the golden goal for Korea that knocked Italy out of the Cup. Prior to his hometown heroics, Ahn was an unremarkable player for Perugia in Italy's Serie A league. Perugia president Luciano Gaucci last week booted Ahn off the team. "I have no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian soccer," Gaucci hissed, calling the Korean's suddenly sensational play "an affront to Italian pride." In response, a philosophical Ahn thanked Italy for giving him the international experience that made him a better player. Is there a more gracious way to rub salt in a wound?
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