Saudi Arabia head coach Roberto Mancini has apologised after he mistakenly walked off before the end of his team’s penalty shootout defeat against South Korea in the Asian Cup on Tuesday.
The Italian had seen his team dramatically relinquish a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute of stoppage time at Education City Stadium, to force extra time, and then miss two spot kicks in the shootout.
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Mancini turned and headed to the changing room without watching Hwang Hee-Chan convert the decisive kick that saw South Korea advance to the quarterfinals 4-2 on penalties and set up a clash with Australia on Friday.
“I apologise [for leaving early], I thought it was finished. I didn’t want to disrespect anyone,” Mancini told a news conference. “I want to say thank you to all my players for what they did. They are improving a lot.”
“We as a group, we improved a lot. We’ve worked for one month together [for the Asian Cup] and this is important.
Saudi Arabia had led the round-of-16 match through Abdullah Radif‘s goal in the 46th minute, but Cho Gue-Sung sent the game into extra time with a late header.
In the shootout South Korea goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-Woo saved penalties from Sami Al Naji and Abdulrahman Ghareeb.
Mancini was aiming to win his second major international title as a coach after leading Italy to success in the European Championship in 2021.
South Korea head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, meanwhile, could add the Asian Cup to the Concacaf Gold Cup he won with the U.S. in 2013.
Information from ESPN’S Joey Lynch contributed to this report