An unforgettable prank for Roberto Mancini, forced to say goodbye to the Asian Cup already in the round of 16. His Saudi Arabia, ahead 1-0 against Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korea, conceded the equalizer in the 99th minute and were eliminated on penalties. Defeat and also subsequent controversy: the coach in fact left the field before the end of the penalties. In the press conference he then justified himself: “I apologize, I didn’t want to disrespect anyone, I thought it was over.” However, it wasn’t enough, the president of the Saudi federation, Yasser Al Meshal, did not like the behavior of the Italian coach: «Mancini’s early exit from the pitch is unacceptable».
For the national team led by the former Italian coach it was certainly not an easy challenge, despite the passage to the elimination rounds coming first in group F, ahead of Thailand, Oman and Kyrgyzstan. But the South Koreans disappointed in their group, finishing second behind Bahrain. In short, Mancio had all the odds.
An elimination that risks overwhelming Mancini, accused a few days ago of aiming to get himself kicked out and ended up at the center of controversy for having excluded three iconic players from the list of players accused of demanding to be employed continuously. The Saudis started well, taking the lead through Radif, a striker in his early twenties who plays for Al-Shabab, the team recently faced by Daniele De Rossi’s Roma in a friendly. The mock equalizer, however, arrived with time practically up, in the 99th minute, and Midtjylland striker Cho-Gue-Sung took care of it, extending the match to extra time and then to penalties.
From 11 meters the South Koreans are perfect, while Saudi Arabia fails with Al-Najef and Ghareeb. Big disappointment for Mancini’s national team. The penalties were indeed fatal for the former coach, who instead in 2021 – in the triumph at the European Championship – defeated Spain in the semi-final and England in the Wembley final from the spot. Now South Korea will face Australia in an early final.