Roberto Mancini is facing trouble as Saudi Arabia’s national football coach after he walked towards the dressing room before the last shot was fired during the penalty shoot-out defeat against South Korea in the round of 16 of the Asian Cup. This was “completely unacceptable” behavior, said Saudi Football Association President Yasser Al-Misehal.
“We will discuss with him why this happened. Mancini has the right to express his point of view and then we will decide on appropriate measures,” Al-Misehal told Saudi broadcaster SSC. Mancini had apologized for leaving the pitch, claiming he thought “the match was already over”.
Mancini criticizes players
But that wasn’t it. Mancini didn’t see Hee-Chan Hwang’s decisive penalty. After a 1-1 draw after extra time, South Korea coached by Jürgen Klinsmann won the penalty shootout 4-2 and will now face Australia in the quarter-finals on Friday (4:30 p.m. CET live on DAZN).
Mancini recently complained publicly about the moods of his selected players. Three nominated professionals demanded a starting eleven guarantee in order to give their consent for the Asian Cup game against Oman. “Something like this has never happened to me before,” criticized Mancini.
Published/Updated: Recommendations: 1 Published/Updated: Alexander Davydov Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3
Mancini took over as national coach in Saudi Arabia last August and signed a lucrative contract. He therefore gave up his position in Italy, which he led to the European Championship title in 2021. He was sharply criticized for this in his home country.
