Follow up shows that international reaction to the comments is pretty pro-Korea:
http://sports.yahoo.com/m/wcs/news/ap/20020620/ap-wcup-skorea-ahn.html
I’m not going to get into a debate over soccer strategy, but I would like to give Cosmi and Gaucci the benefit of the doubt and attribute their silly comments to a heat of the moment reaction.
Of more concern however I would think would be that if Ahns safety if he were to go back to Italy, and how other players might treat him.
As for making $48 an hour, now that the guy is a national hero, something tells me that as a player and in endorsements, he should live a pretty good life in Korea