Italian coach headed for the tunnel before South Korea had taken the final penalty of their Asian Cup second-round tie
It was an early exit from the Asian Cup for the Saudi Arabia coach Roberto Mancini in more ways than one. Perhaps the occasion around the second-round clash with South Korea was all too much and brought back memories of the 2020 European Championship final between his Italy team and England.
The similarities are there: one team 1-0 ahead but dropping deeper and deeper in the second half to invite a late equaliser, then falling to a penalty shootout defeat. This time in Qatar the Italian was on the receiving end and has, like Gareth Southgate, been criticised for sitting back too much. Before Hwang Hee-chan had taken the final penalty to put South Korea into the quarter-finals with a 4-2 win, Mancini started walking down the tunnel. If the initial reaction in Riyadh is anything to go by, he should keep walking.
Continue reading…Italian coach headed for the tunnel before South Korea had taken the final penalty of their Asian Cup second-round tieIt was an early exit from the Asian Cup for the Saudi Arabia coach Roberto Mancini in more ways than one. Perhaps the occasion around the second-round clash with South Korea was all too much and brought back memories of the 2020 European Championship final between his Italy team and England.The similarities are there: one team 1-0 ahead but dropping deeper and deeper in the second half to invite a late equaliser, then falling to a penalty shootout defeat. This time in Qatar the Italian was on the receiving end and has, like Gareth Southgate, been criticised for sitting back too much. Before Hwang Hee-chan had taken the final penalty to put South Korea into the quarter-finals with a 4-2 win, Mancini started walking down the tunnel. If the initial reaction in Riyadh is anything to go by, he should keep walking. Continue reading…
