Defeat at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan still seems to be a traumatic experience for Italian players.
Ronaldinho, Marco Materazzi and Fabio Cannavaro held a press conference with the three Legends, organized by Laxing City Group, at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul. Before the Legends Match in October, the trio visited South Korea to make publicity and meet with fans and youths. During the press conference, they talked about their evaluation of Korean players playing in Europe, their impressions and memories of Korea.
Materazzi and Cannavaro’s recollections of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup caught our attention. First of all, Materazzi is a center back who left his mark on the Italian scene. He was known for his tough defense and was one of the best center backs in Serie A during his long career at Inter Milan. He won the 2006 World Cup in Germany with Cannavaro. He was also the recipient of Zinedine Zidane”s slap in the final.
Cannavaro is a Ballon d’Or winner as a defender. Despite his small stature, he was praised for his incredible judgment and his overwhelming defense. He played for Napoli, Parma, Inter Milan, Juventus, and Real Madrid, and left a huge mark on the Italian national team. After retiring from playing, he went on to manage Al Ahli, Tianjin Quanjian, and Guangzhou FC (formerly Guangzhou Hengda).
Both Italian legends participated in the 2002 World Cup in Korea-Japan. At the time, the Azzurri were led by master coach Giovanni Trapattoni and boasted some of the biggest names in world soccer, including Alexandro Del Piero, Christian Vieri, Francesco Totti, Paulo Maldini, and Gianluigi Buffon. The Azzurri faced the host nation, South Korea, in the round of 16, and the odds were stacked in favor of Italy.
The result was a 2-1 victory for South Korea. After conceding a goal to Pierluigi, South Korea equalized through Seol Ki-hyun just before the end of regulation. Twelve minutes into the second half of extra time, Choi Sung-hwan, who had missed a penalty kick (PK) in the first half, scored the golden goal to send South Korea through to the quarterfinals. It remains the greatest humiliation in Italian soccer history and is still a nightmare and trauma. Materazzi was on the bench and Cannavaro watched the defeat from the sidelines after being left out of the roster due to carding. 메이저놀이터
“I’ve been to Korea once before,” Materazzi said. It was not a pleasant memory. I think it will be a good memory for Ronaldinho,” Materazzi said. Ronaldinho played for Brazil, which won the 2002 World Cup in Korea. “If I remember back 20 years ago, the Korean team was very good. Every time they played in the World Cup, they got better and better,” he said of Korea.
When asked, “Do you think the result would have been different if you had played in the round of 16 against South Korea?” he immediately took the microphone and said, “That’s a very easy question. Of course,” he said. Materazzi and Sturridge, who scored the game-winning goal, have a bad history. He was playing for Perugia in Serie A, but after scoring the golden goal, he became a pariah in Italy and didn’t play well. “Materazzi told me that I was a player who smelled like garlic,” he recalled on his YouTube channel.