Former South Korean national soccer team member Ahn Jung-hwan’s wife
Currently, she is a businesswoman who was Miss Korea of South Korea and currently runs Lee Hye-won Lifestyle Company.
Lee Hye-won was born on April 24, 1979. After winning the Miss Korea FILA in 1999, she worked as a model and then went on the finale stage of the Andre Kim Fashion Show with soccer player Ahn Jung-hwan and did a photo shoot together.
At that time, she met Ahn Jung-hwan and developed into a lover. After dating for two years, they got married in December 2001.
Ahn Jung-hwan, a former national soccer team member and broadcaster, caused a stir by helping the South Korean national soccer team advance to the semifinals in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
As Ahn Jung-hwan gained explosive popularity after scoring the equalizer against the United States in the group stage and the golden goal against Italy in the round of 16, Lee Hye-won’s popularity also increased. In the summer of 2002, the couple were selected as advertising models for SK Telecom and KTF (now KT), respectively, and they even had an unintentional competition between telecommunications companies.
On May 3, 2004, she gave birth to her daughter, An Ri-won. KBS Entertainment Broadcast came to the hospital to cover her right after she gave birth, and the Japanese media even asked to cover An Ri-won, which made her so popular. Then, on December 25, 2008, she gave birth to her son, An Ri-hwan.
Lee Hye-won Profile
Birth: April 24, 1979
Body: 171cm, 47kg, O type, 245mm
Education: Seoul Arts High School, Suwon University Bachelor of Industrial Arts
Awards: 1999 Miss Korea FILA, 1999 Miss Korea Seoul Beauty
Hobbies: Watching movies
Special skills: Crafts, household goods
Religion: Protestantism
Career: 2012 iChallenge Ambassador
2010 Lee Hye-won Lifestyle Company CEO
2008 Woni Hwani CEO
2006 Lian CEO
Family Relationships
Mother: Jeon Bong-sook, Older Brother Lee Seok-won
Spouse: Ahn Jung-hwan (married December 28, 2001)
Daughter: Ahn Ri-won
Son: Ahn Ri-hwan (born December 25, 2008)
(Father passed away on September 14, 2014 due to a chronic illness.)
Broadcasting career
May 29, 2004: KBS 2TV Entertainment Relay
January 11 ~ November 12, 2005: SBS Good Morning
May 2, 2005: KBS 2TV Lee Hong-ryeol and Park Joo-mi’s Leisurely
October 31, 2007: SBS Good Morning
2007: Mnet Wide Entertainment News
May 22, 2008: SBS Good Morning
March 30, 2010: Story on Super Mom Diary
November 15, 2010: CTS Christian TV I’m happy every day
May 24, 2011: SBS Good Morning
July 15, 2011: MBC 2011 Delicious Sharing Love Food Bank
July 25 ~ July 28, 2011: Olive Food Essay
January 15, 2013: KBS 2TV Kim Seung-woo’s Rising Star
May 10 ~ August 9, 2013: SBS A mother who runs in high heels Mom
May 17, 2013 ~ July 19, 2013: SBS Law of the Jungle in Himalayas
August 10, 2013: SBS Star Junior Show Bungeoppang
August 28, 2013: SBS Late Night TV Entertainment
October 22, 2013: MBC Good Day
January 26, 2014 ~ January 18, 2015: MBC Dad! Where Are You Going? Season 2
February 26, 2015: MBC White Same-Age Tutoring
March 26, 2015: KBS 2TV Happy Together 3
May 5, 2016 ~ December 29, 2016: TV CHOSUN What’s so great about her mother
March 29, 2023 ~ May 30, 2023: KBS 2TV Scientific Investigation Team Smoking Gun
September 22, 2023 ~ : Channel A Living in a foreign country – A family that crossed the line
October 23, 2024 : MBC Radio Star
Advertisement and pictorial career
Advertisement: 2016 Woongjin Foods Nature Daily Talk (appeared with daughter Ahn Ri-won)
Pictorial: 1999 FILA
2014 MLB, MLB KIDS Green Label Campaign
2014 Magazine Lemon Tree Family Pictorial
2014 Magazine The Celebrity × Munsingwear 2014 F/W Season Couple Pictorial
2015 Magazine Maison × Seungyongwangu Y-volution Family Pictorial
Books
2005 Postpartum Diet (Random House Korea)
2011 My Pretty Girl (Style Mom Lee Hye-won’s Kids Fashion Book) (NexusBOOKS)
2013 Style Mom Lee Hye-won’s Dressing Up a Pretty Daughter (Kids Fashion Guide for Stylish Moms) (Nexus)
Personal Life and Controversy
Controversy over SNS authentication at a funeral home: On September 14, 2014, it was revealed that her father had passed away, and when she uploaded a photo of her son offering flowers at his father’s funeral on her SNS, she was criticized for not being specific about the time and place.
As the opinions and controversy grew that she was pathetic, she deleted the photo.
Controversy over authentication photos at a movie theater: In October 2014, she uploaded a photo of herself at a movie theater with her son Ahn Ri-hwan on her SNS.
However, she did not take the photo outside the theater, but inside the theater, and during the movie, and she even uploaded a photo of the movie screen while it was playing.
She deleted the post in question after receiving criticism that she was proudly posting a photo after causing trouble in the theater.
Since it had not even been a month since the SNS upload controversy at the funeral home, most of the criticism was that she should refrain from using SNS again.
She had been suspected of plastic surgery since her marriage, and she had also received malicious comments for wearing luxury goods.
She caused frequent gossip on SNS, to the point that the public asked her to refrain from using SNS.
Currently, she has also refrained from uploading posts that cause gossip, and the number of gossips has decreased compared to before.
In the early days of her marriage, Ahn Jung-hwan called her “our baby” on air.
She stopped broadcasting in 2016 to support her son Ahn Ri-hwan, who went to study abroad in Singapore.
Her current status was revealed through SNS, and she stayed in Singapore with her son before returning to Korea in 2021.
Her daughter Ahn Ri-won was accepted to New York University.
In the past, she had a lot of anti-fans because of her husband’s fame and frequent exposure to the media, but now, after a long time, she is being re-evaluated for her quiet support of her family despite the difficult circumstances of her marriage and Ahn Jung-hwan’s difficult career as a player, and she has developed an image as a queen of support.
Her son Ahn Ri-hwan appeared on Lee Hye-won’s YouTube channel and showed off his explosive growth.
National soccer team member, broadcaster Ahn Jung-hwan
A broadcaster who was a former soccer player in South Korea. His positions as a player were striker and midfielder.
During his active years, he was called the Korean fantasy star for his outstanding ball control and technique, accurate passes from the center to the left and right, and quick and precise shooting, which showed his outstanding performance since his debut.
In addition to these performances, he also had a gorgeous and perfect appearance that made it hard to believe he was an athlete, and he attracted numerous female fans.
He once held the record for the most goals scored by an Asian player by scoring 3 goals in the FIFA World Cup. In the first leg of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Round of 32, Park Ji-sung shared this record by scoring one goal, and in the second and third legs of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia Round of 32, Son Heung-min shared this record by scoring two goals.
This makes him one of the few players in the South Korean football world who are considered to have earned lifetime protection from being banned from international football.
He is also the only player to have scored in international matches against every continent except Oceania.
Born in Changcheon-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, Seoul Daerim Elementary School, Nam Seoul Middle School, Seoul Technical High School, Aju University graduated from Ajou University.
Italian When she was active in Serie A, Italians read Ahn’s last name in Italian and affectionately called her “Anne.”
When he was a player, he was nicknamed “Terius” because of his long hair and good looks.
Ahn Jung-hwan Profile
Born: January 27, 1976, Gyeonggi-do Paju
Affiliation: Lee Hye-won Lifestyle, MBC (football commentator)
Family Spouse: Lee Hye-won, son Ahn Ri-hwan, daughter Ahn Ri-won
Debut: 1998 Busan Daewoo Royals (currently Busan) I-PARK) enlisted
Career
National team career
1994 AFC U-19 Football Championship AFC Youth Football Championship National team
2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup National team
2002 FIFA World Cup National team
2003 East Asian Football Championship National team
2004 AFC Asian Cup National team
2006 FIFA World Cup National team
2010 FIFA World Cup National team
2014 FIFA World Cup MBC Football commentator
2018 FIFA World Cup MBC Football commentator
Broadcasting career
1998 KBS1 (Experience Life Field)
1998 KBS2 (Family Entertainment Center)
1998 KBS2 (TV Carries Love)
1999 KBS2 (TV Show Real Masterpiece)
2013 SBS (Jungle’s Law in Himalaya)
2014 MBC (Dad, Where Are We Going?)
2015 KBS2 (Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education)
2015 KBS2 (Youth FC Hungry Eleven)
2015 KBS2 (The Human Condition – Home)
2016 MBC (My Little Television)
2014 ~ Present MBC Soccer Commentator
2016 JTBC (Please Take Care of My Refrigerator) MC
2016 JTBC (Cook Representative) MC
2016 TV Chosun (What’s Wrong with Mom)
2016 SBS (Flower Crew)
2016 XTM (Top Gear Korea)
2016 MBC (Future Diary)
2016 JTBC (Let’s Eat Dinner Together)
2017 Channel A (Oh! Kwai Nam)
2017 tvN (Our Life School)
2017 tvN (Albatross)
2017 SBS (My Little Old Boy) Special MC
2017 JTBC (Let’s Eat Dinner Together)
2018 KBS2 (1% Friendship)
2018 MBC (Radio Star)
2018 MBC (Worried Husband)
2018 tvN (Pocha Without Borders)
2019 JTBC (Kids These Days)
2019 JTBC (Respecting Taste Real Life – Respecting Taste)
2019 JTBC2 (Grand Budapest)
2019 JTBC (Let’s Eat Dinner Together)
2019 MBC (Favorite Broadcasting)
2020 JTBC (Great Bae.Tae.Rang – A Man with a Big Belly)
2020 tvN (Will Delivery Work?)
2020 KBS2 (The Boss’s Ears Are Donkey Ears)
2020 MBC (Thank goodness we didn’t fight)
2020 KBS2 (We Can Game)
2021 JTBC (Let’s Eat Dinner Together)
2021 KBS2 (Lan Cable Market)
2021 ~ Present JTBC (Let’s Eat Dinner Together)
2022 JTBC (Legend Sports Festival)
2022 Channel A (Super DNA Blood is Cure)
2022 E Channel Brave Detectives
2023 ~ Present MBC every1 (Country Police Returns)
CF career
1999 Korea GM Lanos
1999 hy Beat Up
1999 Restonic Bed
1999 Cosmocos Flower Man Emotion
2000 Cosmocos Flower Man Skin Shower (co-starred with Kim Hye-soo)
2001 Cosmocos Flower Man True Emotion, Esor
2002 SK Telecom Speed 011
2002 Cosmocos Flower Man Color Lotion (co-starred with Kim Jae-won)
2003 Cosmocos Esor White
2006 Cosmocos Flower Man Coenzyme Q10 For Men (co-starred with Hyun Bin)
2007 Cosmocos Beauty Credit (co-starred with Kim Hye-soo and Han Ga-in)
2007 Nike
2014 FIFA Online 3
2015 Catch Up
2015 Bangdbang Ball Beer
2015 Hyundai Motor Company (co-starring with Kim Sung-joo)
2016 Tony Moly (co-starring with Kim Sung-joo)
2016 Lotte Confectionery Uiseong Garlic Ham (co-starring with Ahn Ri-hwan)
2016 Food and Drug Safety Ministry Food Poisoning Prevention (co-starring with Jo Woo-jong)
2016 KB Capital
2016 Lotte Hi-Mart (co-starring with Kim Sung-joo)
2018 Samil Pharmaceutical Tiersil Ones
2018 OB Beer Cass (co-starring with Cha -geun)
2018 Jeju Pass Rent-a-Car
2018 SK Telecom 5GX
2018 Ottogi Beef Wakame Soup Ramen
2018 Dongkook Pharmaceutical Pansideal (co-starring with Kim Sung-joo)
Music Video
1999 Yada – Already Sad Love
Awards
Busan Daewoo Royals
K League: Runner-up (1999)
League Cup: Winner (1998), Runner-up (1999)
Yokohama F. Marinos
J-League Division 1: Winner (2004)
Xerox Super Cup: Winner (2004, 2005)
A3 Champions Cup: Runner-up (2004)
South Korea
East Asian Football Championship: Winner (2003)
FIFA World Cup: 4th (2002)
Individual
K League: MVP (1999), Best 11 (1998, 1999)
1999 Kika Goal of the Year Award
2002 FIFA World Cup Man of the Match: vs. Italy (Round of 16)
2002 Sports Medal of Honor, Tiger Medal
2002 Ja-Hwang Cup Sports Awards Male Best Award
2006 FIFA World Cup Man of the Match: vs. Togo (Group Stage)
2012 K-League Awards Achievement Award
2013 SBS Entertainment Awards Best Challenge Award
2014 MBC Broadcasting Entertainment Awards Variety Category Special Award
2019 MBC Broadcasting Entertainment Awards Popularity Award
2021 MBC Broadcasting Entertainment Awards Male Excellence Award
2022 MBC Broadcasting Entertainment Awards Entertainer of the Year Award
Educational Background
1994 ~ 1998 Ajou University, Bachelor of Business Administration
Seoul Technical High School
Namseoul Middle School
Daerim Elementary School
National Team Career
Made his A-match debut against China in the Korea-China regular match on April 23, 1997.
On November 13, 1998, he scored in a friendly match against the Chinese professional team in Beijing, which was effectively a match between the national teams, but since he played under the name of a professional team, it was not recognized as an official A-match.
He rose to stardom by scoring one goal each against the United States and Italy in the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
In particular, the golden goal, which was the winning goal in the second half of extra time against Italy in the round of 16, led South Korea to the quarterfinals for the first time among Asian teams since North Korea in the 1966 FIFA World Cup. He earned the nickname “Lord of the Rings” for his goal celebration after this goal, and left a strong impression along with Lee Hwan-ah’s father’s goal parade.
He also scored a comeback winning goal in the first match of Group G against Togo in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, making him the Asian player with the most goals in a World Cup with three goals, and was selected as the official Man of the Match for that match.
Included in the 2010 FIFA World Cup roster, she contributed to the team’s first ever away round of 16, but regrettably failed to play in a single game.
K-League Ambassador
After retiring in 2012, she was appointed as the K-League Ambassador. Unlike existing ambassadors, she was called the ‘Honorary Promotion Team Leader’ and worked directly to promote the K-League, gaining much support from fans.
She focused on promoting the K-League by participating in various K-League events, visiting stadiums in person, and meeting with fans.
Invited to the 2002 World Cup national team, Ahn Jung-hwan personally announced the All-Star Game promotion as the head of the public relations team at the 2012 K-League All-Star Game, and later filmed a public relations video and directly contacted representatives of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, including Gus Hiddink, Hong Myung-bo and Park Ji-sung, to request their participation. 2002 Members visited the stadium and contributed greatly to making it the best All-Star Game ever.
After the All-Star Game, he went around each stadium to promote the K-League.
The Professional Football League recognized his contribution and presented him with an award at the 2012 K-League Awards Ceremony.
Personal life and controversy
In June 2002, during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, he scored an equalizer in the 33rd minute of the second half in the match against the United States held in Daegu. After scoring the goal, he faced the camera and did the Kim Dong-seong ceremony, and Anton Ohno ceremony became a hot topic because Lee Chun-soo did it.
After that, the ring kiss ceremony after scoring a golden goal in the 12th minute of extra time in the match against Italy in Daejeon also became a hot topic.
In particular, after the ring ceremony, Ahn Jung-hwan also earned the nickname ‘Lord of the Rings’.
Ajou University, Ahn Jung-hwan’s alma mater, named the B06 basement room of Dasan Hall ‘Ahn Jung-hwan Room’ to commemorate his achievements during the 2002 FIFA World Cup.
He was popular for his good looks and excellent soccer skills, and was selected as the best player in 2003 by soccer fans. When he joined Suwon Samsung Bluewings, he contributed greatly to the club’s marketing.
On February 1, 2007, Ahn Jung-hwan signed a 2 billion won sponsorship contract with Fuerza, a sports apparel and equipment manufacturing and sales company, for three years until 2009.
On September 10, 2007, when he was playing for Suwon Samsung Bluewings, during an R-League match against FC Seoul’s second team, a female supporter of FC Seoul used insulting language, obscenities, and swear words toward Ahn Jung-hwan and his wife, Lee Hye-won, and entered the stands during the match to protest, for which he was fined 10 million won.
On May 18, 2008, when he was playing for Busan I’Park, during a K-League match against Seongnam FC, there was an incident where a goal was scored by Seongnam FC at a sensitive moment and Ahn Jung-hwan was deliberately given the goal.
After retiring in 2013, he appeared on SBS’s Law of the Jungle Himalaya/Nepal, and on the entertainment program Sunday Night – Dad! Where Are We Going? in 2014. He was a commentator for MBC during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
After that, he expanded his field as a broadcaster by joining the entertainment programs ‘United Let’s Go’ and ‘United Let’s Cool’ with MBC’s former broadcaster Kim Sung-joo.
His nicknames include Terius, Fantasy Star, Anne, and Lord of the Rings.
After retiring, he was given the nicknames ‘Super Mario’ and ‘An Heung-guk’ while working on broadcasts.
He is particularly strong in big games.
He is known for his hero instinct that allows him to score goals at crucial moments.
This is because he has scored many crucial goals at important moments, such as the Korea-Japan match, the tying goal against the US in 2002, the winning goal against Italy, and the goal against Togo in 2006.
Perhaps because of his unique and beautiful appearance, he once stood on the Andre Kim fashion show stage.
And his wife, Lee Hye-won, is said to have met him for the first time when they walked the finale stage together at the Andre Kim fashion show and got married.
He has an image of being a player who is good at heading, having scored two goals with headers in the World Cup, but he is actually not good at heading.
He said he didn’t like heading at all.
However, after going to Italy, he started scoring heading goals little by little, and in the J-League, he started to head the ball quite actively and showed that his heading skills were improving, such as scoring quite a few goals.
He is considered a representative journeyman in Korea.
He was an unfortunate player who could have played on a higher and more splendid stage because of his outstanding soccer skills, but he did not get along well with his teammates and his career was hindered by various conflicts of interest and situations.
Some say that the reason his advance to Europe was not successful was because of his own playing style, and one of the biggest reasons was that he was introverted and had poor adaptability.
However, the biggest reason was that he tried to transfer to Blackburn Rovers FC but was sued over a contract issue and lost, leaving him with a mountain of debt, which left him feeling psychologically burdened.
Why did a player with such a strong attachment to Europe stay in Japan for so long, to the point that he immediately knocked on the door of a lower-ranking European league team after finishing his time in Japan?
Of course, the biggest reason was his lack of skills, but another reason was that he was tied to a Japanese agency to earn money to pay off his debts because of this problem. He also gave an interview in 2013 saying that he regretted it.
He appeared on TV Love on September 18, 1998. At the time, the makeup artist for the group Baby Blue was Ahn Jung-hwan’s first love.
Baby Blue members (Lee Hye-min, Lee Sang-soon, Hwang Sun-young) appeared on this show.
Thanks to his good looks, he appeared in the music video for the band Yada’s song ‘Already Sad Love’ in 1999.
Hwang Sun-hong is the only player who became inferior to the storm game, which was the fate of the main strikers of the national team.
The biggest thing here was that the impact who played an important role in the game ate it.
The relatively small number of participants in the game against the weakest team, which is the most easily criticized, also played a part.
Considering the 13 years of soccer life and his status as a national team player, the number of A-match appearances of 70 games is difficult to say that it is a very large number of games played.
Right now, Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo played around the same time, but both played more than 100 games, and Lee Chun-soo, who made his national team debut in 2000 due to a lot of noise, has not been selected for the national team at all since 2008.
Chinese Super League and Japan’s J League, where the team is so desperate that they cannot swear or rarely broadcast.
Lee Dong-guk, who was one of the Troika’s pillars, had a strangely symmetrical career.
Ahn Jung-hwan, who excelled more than anyone else in the national team, but his club career itself was completely twisted, and Lee Dong-guk, who always played at the top of his club team, but strangely became twisted whenever he came to the national team.
Hiddink mentioned in his autobiography that he excluded Lee Dong- because he was disappointed in his ability to participate in defense, press him, and solve individuals, but he also praised Ahn Jung-hwan compared to Homariu or Pierre Panho Dong-k“.
Of course, this is not that Ahn Jung-hwan plays soccer as much as Homariu, but that he has similar personalities.
Hiddink said that he liked Ahn Jung-hwan to respond when he stimulated him like Homariu, and that he thought it was the quality of top players, but on the contrary, he didn’t like that part because Lee Dong- didn’t mention it.
Ahn Jung-hwan has considerable friendship with Lee Dong-. He started his professional career in 1998, the same year he joined the pro league, and both were offensive resources, and around the same time he moved to Italy and Germany, respectively, to enter Europe.
When Johannes Bonfrere coach was in office, all of them were appointed by the national team, and When Huh Jung-moo was in office, he was selected as an old player who would set the center of the team and was selected as the final entry for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and went to South Africa together.
Both retired as players and became broadcasters, and they are still friends in their second lives, appearing together as regular panelists on entertainment programs such as “Let’s Eat Dinner Together” and “Let’s Eat Dinner Together 2.”
It is said that he got an injection and played when he got an ankle injury during an evaluation match in preparation for the 2002 FIFA Korea-Japan World Cup. In fact, he hid the fact because he wanted to play.
About 10 years after missing a penalty kick in the round of 16 match against Italy in the 2002 FIFA Korea-Japan World Cup, he was scolded by Lee Eul-yong on KBS’s Our Neighborhood Arts and Physical Education, saying, “You didn’t even score the goal…”
When he received basic military training after the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup
Ahn Jung-hwan Training Center
During the preparation for the 2006 FIFA Germany World Cup, when Ahn Jung-hwan made a mistake while practicing ball trapping with Lee Dong-, Lee Dong- was shown shouting “Oh my! Really!!!” with an extremely angry expression on his face, which made many Koreans laugh.
Just before the 2014 Brazil World Cup, he had a brief conversation with Park Joo-ho.
He asked Park Joo-ho’s age and teased him, saying, “You’re older than I thought.” He told Park Joo-ho, who was struggling with military service issues, that he had also served in the military, so there was no need to be afraid.
He then teased him, saying that he had only received 4 weeks of basic training.
At that time, Park Joo-ho’s expression was truly awkward and complicated, but since Park Joo-ho also received special military service after winning a gold medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, it seems that Ahn Jung-hwan’s teasing him will be a memory in its own way.
He is one of the three soccer players who were appointed as cover models for Time magazine, along with Park Ji-sung and Son Heung-min.
He has many close colleagues to the point that he is called the ‘yard boy’ of the soccer world. Eul Yong-ta Lee Eul-yong are the same age and both are introverted, so during their time on the national team, Kim Nam-il Lee Eul-yong and Ahn Jung-hwan are very close and the three of them often hang out together as outcasts, and they are very close and seniors. Choi Yong-soo and he have a love-hate relationship where they tease and tease each other.
Their relationship became known in earnest when Choi Yong-soo appeared as a guest in Please Take Care of My Refrigerator, where Ahn Jung-hwan was a regular MC for the first time in his life.
He is close enough to keep in touch with Hong Myung-bo, a senior member of the 2002 committee, on a regular basis and have frequent meals with him. He is said to be close to Kim Nam-il among his juniors.
He is also close to Lee Dong-, and he often met in Frankfurt, the halfway point, every holiday when Ahn Jung-hwan and Lee Dong- were playing in Italy and Germany.
The late Yoo Sang-cheol and Hwang Sun-hong, and the younger members are Song Jong-guk, Cha Du-ri“.
Looking at his appearances as a broadcaster, he seems to have excellent cooking skills and hands.
He seems to be quite skilled with his hands. If he doesn’t fight, he can build a house right away.
They are three years younger in their family, wife Lee Hye-won, daughter Ahn Ri-won, and son Ahn Ri-hwan. The love story with his wife Lee Hye-won is quite interesting.
According to Ahn Jung-hwan, a YouTube icon, when he first met his wife on the stage of the Andre Kim Fashion Show, he fell in love with her at first sight and asked her if she had a boyfriend, and when he heard that she didn’t, he made an appointment to introduce him to a good man and went out on a blind date himself.
He went out with his wife, but he was a student living in Seoul at the time and went to school, and the hometown of Ahn Jung-hwan’s team was Busan, so it was hard to meet him often during the season, so once Ahn Jung-hwan missed the team training because he didn’t want to break up while dating, and he was fined a lot by his seniors.
So, Ahn Jung-hwan gave her a credit card as a present because he couldn’t meet his wife often and told her to buy a lot of delicious things with it when he was not confident, but he returned it without using it once.
However, he jokingly said that if the card bill had been paid as much as his annual salary, he would have gone to court.
It is said that he still ties sneakers for his wife Lee Hye-won, who is not good at tying sneakers even now in her 23rd year of marriage.
After retirement, he was hired as a public relations team leader of the professional soccer federation while helping his wife Lee Hye-won with her business.
Of course, it is not a formal employee, but it is a common concept of a public relations ambassador, but he is said to have named him the head of the public relations team to play much harder than that.
Since then, he has promoted around K-League team stadiums across the country, successfully promoting and hosting the K-League All-Star Game to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Cup, and even leading to the saying that the best recruit in the K-League this season is Ahn Jung-hwan.
Since then, he has been working steadily for the K League.
While most retired star players have said let’s love the K-League, but they haven’t shown any action, Ahn Jung-hwan is really working for the K-League while playing on his feet, so the fans’ response is very good.
Meanwhile, the official K-League shopping mall was opened shortly after Ahn Jung-hwan took office as the head of the public relations team of the Korean Professional Football Association, where his wife Lee Hye-won also sells cosmetics.
Ahn Geum-hyang, her mother, was once noted as Ahn Jung-hwan’s mother and gained fame by watching her son, such as filming a commercial, but she was even imprisoned for a huge amount of debt due to various gambling and fraud on YouTube icons, causing controversy.
It is a well-known story that he was unable to attend Ahn Jung-hwan’s wedding because he was running away from gambling debt.
Ahn Jung-hwan had to pay off all of his mother’s debts because he was her son, and he also suffered from persistent media reports and speculation.
After that, Ahn Geum-hyang made a fuss about severing ties with the secular world by entering a temple, but in 2019, a debt-related report broke out again, and Ahn Jung-hwan personally said, “I have paid all the moral obligations.” “The relationship between mother and son is completely over, so we haven’t seen each other for a long time,” and shared his bitter recent situation.
He is the model for Ko Young-ha, who appears as the final boss of Hikaru’s Baduk.
Although the author did not directly say Ahn Jung-hwan, he revealed that he was named after a long-haired handsome Korean soccer player. Ko Young-ha began to appear around 2002, and at that time, the only long-haired handsome Korean soccer player was Ahn Jung-hwan.
In 2015, he received a request to play for two or three Southeast Asian teams, including Indonesia, but he declined. He revealed this himself on January 3, 2016, on Maritel.
He said that the player who impressed him the most while playing overseas was Roberto Baggio.
At the time, he thought Baggio was a veteran and had lost his cool, but the moment he watched the game, he realized why Baggio was one of the best players in the world.
So, Ahn Jung-hwan said that he was so moved that he even shed tears after playing against Baggio.
For reference, at this time, Bajo was in a period of rejuvenation mode. Italy failed miserably in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup because they didn’t use Baggio, but anyway Alessandro Del Piero, Francesco Totti, Christian Vieri, Filippo Inzaghi, etc. It was a crazy lineup.
As for his role models, he chose Kim Joo-sung as a domestic player, and Ruud Gullit as a foreign player. After becoming a broadcaster, he always answered Gullit whenever he was asked about it, and he said that when he was young, he got a video tape of Gullit’s performance and watched it over and over at a friend’s house and imitated it.
Later, he advanced to Serie A, and it was also because of the influence of Gullit, who was playing an active role in AC Milan.
And he finally met her in person through the June 26, 2022 broadcast of Let’s Eat Dinner Together 2, where he is a regular.
He suffered a lot in many ways, whether it was because he had no luck, had no eye for people, or was naive.
Just like Ahn Jong-bok in Busan and Gaucci in Perugia, they were defrauded by their agents or became invincible due to their agents’ lack of work skills, and then in 2002, due to the impact of the Korea-Japan World Cup, there were other clubs they wanted to go to besides Blackburn, but they chose Blackburn despite the visa issues due to the boasting of those around them, or they were completely scared by the threats of the Italian mafia, and when they transferred to FC Metz, they even received an offer from Udinese Calcio in Italy, so they had nowhere else to go, but the owner of the club drove them from far away. He showed many immature aspects, such as choosing to go to FC Metz, which was underpowered, or going to Germany despite knowing that the Bundesliga was not for him, even though he did not want to go because Bear Bag said they would send him to the World Cup.
According to Kim Sung-joo, who appeared on Radio Star with him, at first, when he was interviewed as a commentator and a soccer player without becoming close to him personally, he thought Ahn Jung-hwan was arrogant because of his short answers.
However, he said that because he was introverted, but as we became close, he realized that he was innocent.
During his time as a player, he was not only able to use various techniques, but also evolved by continuously trying various techniques.
He improved his heading skills because he thought he should go to Europe and do headers, but during his time at Daewoo Royals, he used high-speed spurts like Lee Young-pyo to a level that was acceptable in the league, and he tried various things such as continuously hitting curves and then suddenly hitting no-spin shots, increasing the number of ground , and changing the angle of his shots.
He also tried headers from various angles, and later even did diving headers.
He also used rabona kicks during his time in Japan, but he said on TV that he got scolded by the coach for using a high-risk technique related to rabona kicks, but he stopped using them after that.
By the way, the Rabona kick was a perfect success and helped lead to a goal.
He also tried techniques similar to Cristiano Ronaldo’s chop, and he used them at a level that would be accepted in any league he played in.
However, the soul’s techniques are the back shot, Cruyff turn, and the no-spin shot.
In particular, his exclusive patented technique, the so-called Anne Turn, was so good that Pele said it looked like Johan Cruyff, and when Anne Turn was good, he used the defender like an older brother playing with his younger brother.
However, it is said that his knee cartilage is almost gone now because it was a technique that dribbled and changed direction abruptly, so his knees were greatly strained.
He often collapsed while shooting or passing.
Rather than saying that he had a bad sense of balance, he felt like he was naturally letting gravity take over and kicked the ball, and even if his posture collapsed, it seemed to be a habit or the result of his own research, as there was no problem with accuracy.
On January 27, 2016, the FIFA World Cup Twitter posted a congratulatory message for his 41st birthday. Furthermore, the official FIFA Twitter also retweeted this message.
The post also included a photo of Ahn Jung-hwan scoring the golden goal.
Two years later, on January 27, 2018, the FIFA World Cup Facebook posted a congratulatory message for his 43rd birthday, and three years later, on January 27, 2019, the FIFA World Cup Instagram also posted a congratulatory message for his 44th birthday.
And four years later, on January 27, 2020, they posted a congratulatory message for his 45th birthday along with a video of the equalizing goal against the United States.
In January 2017, when visiting the FIFA Museum in Switzerland to film Let’s Get Together, a staff member who came to guide him recognized Ahn Jung-hwan and shook his hand first. He was the only Korean player to appear in the illustration hanging in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup corner, and the staff member even took a picture of Ahn Jung-hwan in this corner.
In May 2018, a German fan recognized Ahn Jung-hwan and came to him first to ask for a photo, showing that he is recognized by FIFA and other European countries, even if he is not recognized in Italy.
On March 17, 2021, to commemorate the FIFA World Cup Instagram surpassing 19 million followers, they posted an illustration of 12 players who have worn the number 19 jersey in past World Cups with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Ahn Jung-hwan was the only Asian player to be mentioned among the players whose names are well-known.
This is a story that everyone says, so I just passed it off as a joke, but after filming a cosmetics commercial, he declared that he would go on a diet if his contract was renewed, and when the contract renewal actually happened, he lost weight at an incredible rate and returned to his handsome days.
He mentioned that Yoshito Okubo, a former member of the Japanese national soccer team, was the player he respected the most.
That’s why it’s really funny to see him shocked when he saw Ahn Jung-hwan’s current situation on a Japanese entertainment program that looked into his current situation after retirement.
The program that was on at the time was Please Take Care of My Refrigerator, where he is currently a regular MC.
Okubo smiled bitterly when he saw his hero currently working as an MC on a Korean entertainment show and added, “Should I do some broadcasting too?”
He says that because of his experience of skipping meals a lot when he was young, he has never skipped a single meal, whether it be breakfast, lunch, or dinner, since he started earning money, and he says that he is still very sensitive when he has to skip a meal due to external factors.
He was even shown complaining to his wife on TV.
Kim Sung-joo, who commentated with Ahn Jung-hwan during the 2014 Brazil World Cup, said, “When Ahn Jung-hwan starves, he gets nervous.” Ahn Jung-hwan said, “I starved so much when I was young, so now I’m sick of starving, and if I earn money, I have to spend it on food.”
Perhaps because of this, Ahn Jung-hwan gained a lot of weight after retiring from his playing career.
He also revealed his conviction that he didn’t want to worry about what other people thought when asked why he didn’t lose weight.
He was selected as a model for Canon’s advertisement, and people’s reactions were unanimous.
He ran as a torch bearer at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
In particular, the reason Ahn Jung-hwan appeared as the only athlete without an Olympic career among the final torchbearers is because he participated in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, one of the representative major sports competitions held in South Korea, and he is the most famous athlete among the 23 players in the World Cup entry who did not participate in the Olympics.
In other words, Ahn Jung-hwan is the key link that connects the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
Park Ji-sung is also there, but if you want to explain why he was linked to the World Cup because he has an Olympic participation record, it is ironically better to Ahn Jung-hwan who does not have an Olympic career.
Here too, we can see his great personality. Originally, he was supposed to be the final torchbearer and run up to the cauldron to pass the torch to Kim Yuna, and he even completed secret training at dawn.
However, it was ultimately changed to have athletes from the South and the North go up together, and from Ahn Jung-hwan’s perspective, it could be said that all the hard work he had put in wasted.
However, he said that he felt sad watching the backs of the two players holding hands and climbing the long stairs from right below, and that he thought it was better than me climbing it, and that he had no regrets about the change.
He became a hit through entertainment shows, but it is still completely different from his main job as a soccer commentator and his image as a commentator.
He is a perfectionist who makes people laugh on entertainment shows and leaves harsh criticism as a soccer player and senior as his main job as a soccer commentator.
On June 6, 2018, he appeared on Radio Star and said that he felt more comfortable commentating with Kim Jung-geun than Kim Sung-joo.
He said that Kim Jung-geun has such an honest style that he trusts him… Since it is entertainment, it was just a joke, and he said this because he is currently a member of the MBC commentator team.
Ahn Jung-hwan’s main skill during his active days was to fake tackles to get past defenders and score goals.
That’s why he pointed out that Jang Hyun-soo’s tackle in the 2018 Russia World Cup match against Mexico was an irresponsible evasion.
He revealed on the broadcast that his physical condition after retirement is not very good because he overworked his body during his long career as a player.
In particular, he frequently used the technique of annturn, which puts a lot of strain on the knee cartilage, so his knee cartilage is completely gone.
When he tried to get surgery after retirement, the cartilage was completely worn away and only a small piece remained. He said that if he left it like that, the bone fragments could flow to other parts of the body, which would be more dangerous, so the doctor recommended removal, so he accepted.
He also had this conversation with the doctor while only anesthetizing his lower body and looking directly at his knee bone.
He said that he can’t even go up and down stairs or sit on the toilet for a long time.
He became the promotional model for a new chicken franchise in March 2019.
The brand name is ‘Ahn Jung-hwan Chicken Player’, and when you only look at the name, it is easy to mistake it for a brand run by Ahn Jung-hwan himself, so there were rumors that Ahn Jung-hwan was the co-CEO and outside director of the brand.
However, on June 28, 2020, he revealed on the broadcast of ‘The President’s Ears Are Donkey Ears’ that he was a chicken businessman and gave advice on starting a business to his close friend Hyun Joo-yeop.
He supported Chung Mong-joon, who ran for president in the past, and even campaigned, and Heo Jae was there with him at the time.
Considering the influence that Chung Mong-joon and Hyundai had on the Korean soccer world, it is not surprising.
He was diagnosed with fatty liver disease in a health checkup conducted by ‘Let’s Eat Together’.
Usually, fatty liver disease in middle age is practically pre-diabetes, so it is important to take care of your body.
In fact, Ahn Jung-hwan is a heavy drinker, so it is strange that he does not have any illness.
In an interview while appearing on ‘Will Delivery Eat?’, he said, “If I hadn’t been a soccer player, I would have become a chef.”
He likes cooking quite a bit… During the 2014 Brazil World Cup, he personally cooked for Kim Sung-joo and Song Jong-guk and prepared breakfast for them.
Since then, Song Jong-guk has come to respect Ahn Jung-hwan.
His foot size is 255mm, which is small for his height, and his foot size is the same as Son Heung-min’s.
On the SBS entertainment show My Little Old Boy, he had a thigh wrestling match with Hyun Joo-yeop, and Hyun Joo-yeop, who weighed more than 30kg more, just kicked him.
Just like all sports that require running, basketball is also a sport where the lower body is very important, but no matter how important the lower body is in basketball, it is different from soccer where the lower body is the main body.
On April 1, 2021, Ahn Jung-hwan FC opened a YouTube channel with the intention of containing all content related to soccer.
He revealed that he usually likes the color mint in the YouTube icon, and it was also set as the official color of the YouTube channel. I got a recommendation for a channel name, but I think I’ll decide on Ahn Jung-hwan 19.
I took an MBTI test on the entertainment show Why is Classic Entertainment Like That and came out as ISFJ.
He won the Best Male Award at the 2021 MBC Entertainment Awards.
He says he hopes Korea will win the World Cup someday. It would be difficult when looking at his objective record, but it seems like a wish that he has at least once as a soccer player.
Regarding the fight between Thomas Tuchel and Antonio Conte that occurred during the 2022-2023 season Premier League 2R match between Chelsea FC and Tottenham Hotspur FC, he said, “If it’s not unsightly, it can affect the players’ morale, so it’s okay to do it.” He commented that a moderate bench fight is necessary.
It’s because players from unpopular sports appear on ‘United We Cool’, but due to the influence of the 2002 World Cup, it’s the most popular no matter which team is played in which region.
In the basketball game Let’s Shoot Together, one opposing player glanced at Ahn Jung-hwan during the game and bowed his head, saying it was an honor.
He thinks of Solskjaer as an attacking midfielder. He explained the reason why he called Solskjaer a midfielder on MyTel.
Ahn Jung-hwan sees Solskjaer as a striker and says that he classified him as a midfielder because he plays below the first-line striker.
Although Solskjaer’s style is a typical poacher style, he sees his position as a midfielder based on his playing position.
This was something he revealed when he appeared on My Little Television, and when Kim Sung-joo asked, “What was Ahn Jung-hwan’s position as a soccer player?” he answered, “Ahn Jung-hwan is an attacking midfielder.”
According to his wife, Lee Hye-won, he has suffered a lot since childhood, and even after his professional debut, his personal career has been messed up, so he has a strong determination not to let his children play soccer.
So even now, Ahn Jung-hwan’s children have not decided on a career as soccer players.
However, it is said that this desire was so extreme that he would let all the air out if he saw a ball at home.
After Paulo Bento, he is rising as the coach of the South Korean national soccer team.
There is also an article that says that it is related to the fact that his contract as a commentator expires suddenly after the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and that he will soon obtain P-level coaching qualifications, so it seems somewhat credible.
Of course, he said in an interview that it was “absolutely not true.”
However, in reality, it is not easy for even experienced talents to become the national team coach, and if Ahn Jung-hwan goes straight to become the national team coach, he will be the first case of someone going straight to the position without any coaching experience.
In 2023, Ahn Jung-hwan’s cumulative donations alone are said to have exceeded 300 million won.
On October 20, 2024, he participated in the Nexon Icon Match as a member of the FC Spear team.
In the 9th Korea Women’s Football Federation Presidential Election, he publicly supported candidate Jeong Hae-seong, who had been involved in the “controversy over pardoning match-fixing soccer players” and the “controversy over sabotage as the chairman of the Power Reinforcement Committee,” along with Ji So-yeon and Kim Hye-ri.
