South Korea’s Lord of the Heartthrob

Reports today that South Korea striker Ahn Jung-hwan has pulled out a trial with Blackburn Rovers and will stick with his French club Metz. While this is an interesting decision given Ahn’s relative lack of minutes in Metz, we are more interested with some things we learned in this article.

To summarize:

1. Korean fans gave Ahn the nickname “Lord” for the way he kissed his ring every time after scoring during the last World Cup.

2. “Ahn was every young girl’s sweetheart and every mother’s dream son-in-law.”

3. “With his flowing locks and good looks, he was Asia’s pin-up boy…”

4. He was named the most recognizable Korean in a poll conducted in Japan.

5. He is married to a former Miss Korea.

6. He likes long walks on the beach.

Ok, we made the last one up, but only because we found this picture of Ahn.

The picture hanging on every 17-year-old Japanese girl’s wall.