South Korea’s retired 2002 World Cup hero Ahn Jung-hwan says he was cold-shouldered and subjected to racist slurs from Marco Materazzi during his troubled time with Serie A side AC Perugia.

In an interview on a South Korean television talk show, Ahn, 36, alleged that Perugia’s then-skipper Materazzi had been particularly intimidating.

“He barged into the locker room one day and barked at me in front of everyone, saying that I reeked of garlic,” Ahn said.

“I didn’t understand what he was saying but the translator, who was also a Korean, blushed and, at first, was too embarrassed to translate the remarks,” he added.

Ahn’s wife, a former Miss Korea beauty queen, told the same talk show that her husband was so intimidated that he stopped eating garlic-heavy Korean food.

Ahn joined AC Perugia in 2000, but the move was not a happy one and ended in controversy.

After Ahn scored the golden goal against Italy that put South Korea through to the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup, Perugia owner Luciano Gaucci canceled his contract.

Gaucci was quoted as saying he had “no intention of paying a salary to someone who has ruined Italian football.”

Ahn said he had always been treated as “an outcast” by other players in the Italian club side.

“They seldom passed the ball to me in front of goal, even if they had no way for themselves to score,” he said. (AFP)