SAUDI ARABIA Head Coach Roberto Mancini left the field before the end of the penalty shootout which saw his team lose 2-4 to South Korea in the 2023 Asian Cup round of 16 clash at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, last night (early this morning Malaysian time).
Mancini was seen disappearing down the tunnel before Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang Hee-chan converted the decisive kick to secure South Korea’s spot in the quarterfinals.
South Korea goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo saved two penalties, by Sami Al-Naji and Abdulrahman Ghareeb, after Mohammed Kanno dan Saud Abdulhamid successfully converted the Green Falcons’ first two kicks from the spot.
“I apologise, I thought it (penalty shootout) was finished, I didn’t want to disrespect anyone. When you lose a penalty (shootout) you are sad because it is difficult, but this is football.
“We have to accept this, I’m very happy with my players because they played a very good game against one of the best teams in the world. I want to say thank you to all my players for what they did, they are improving a lot,” said the 59-year-old Italian after the match.
Saudi Arabia, the three-time champions were on the brink of victory when they led 1-0 until towards the end of the game after substitute Abdullah Radif scored in the 46th minute.
However, Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korea equalised through Cho Gue-sung’s header in the ninth minute of added time to drag the match into extra time before the winner had to be decided on penalties.
South Korea, the two-time champions will lock horns with 2015 champions Australia in the quarterfinal match at the Al Janoub Stadium this Friday.–Bernama
