Hiddink slates Perugia boss

South Korea coach Guus Hiddink has branded the chairman of Italian club Perugia "childish" for his decision to sack striker Ahn Jung Hwan.

Luciano Gaucci said he would no longer employ Ahn whose 'golden goal' eliminated Italy from the World Cup on Tuesday and put the co-hosts into the last eight.

"It is a childish reaction," Hiddink said at a training session today.

"You have to think of sports, and sports means players are all playing in different countries.

"If there's England-France, do they say to [Frank] Leboeuf, do they say to [Marcel] Desailly, they cannot score against England from a corner-kick? It's almost too ridiculous to talk about."

FIFA said today it would not intervene in the decision by Perugia to sack Ahn after he scored the 116th-minute goal that put South Korea into the quarterfinals.

"It's between the player and the club," FIFA communications director Keith Cooper said. "It's not for us to interfere. No one has complained to us."

Italy reacted with fury to the team's shock 2-1 elimination in the second round.

They accused Ecuadorian referee Byron Moreno of playing a role in the defeat by showing playmaker Francesco Totti a red card, a call which prompted coach Giovanni Trapattoni to punch the glass behind the team bench, right in front of a FIFA official standing on the opposite side of it.