Saudi Arabia coach Roberto Mancini apologized for strolling off earlier than the top of his staff’s dropping penalty shootout towards South Korea.
The Italian turned and headed for the locker room earlier than Hwang Hee-chan’s successful spot kick on Tuesday despatched South Korea to the quarterfinals in Qatar.
“I apologise for this because I thought it was finished,” Mancini stated. “I didn’t want to (disrespect) anyone. I want to say thank you to all my players for what they did. They are improved a lot.”
Mancini, who received the European Championship as Italy coach in 2021, watched his staff relinquish a 1-0 lead within the ninth minute of stoppage time when Cho Gue-sung headed in an equaliser.
RELATED: South Korea advances to quarterfinals after beating Saudi Arabia in shootout
With the rating nonetheless stage after further time at Education City Stadium, South Korea goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo went on to avoid wasting penalties from Sami Al Naji and Abdulrahman Ghareeb.
“I am very sad because when you lose a penalty shootout, when you concede a goal in the last minute … because I don’t understand 10 minutes extra (stoppage) time,” Mancini stated.
“But I am happy because as a team we improved a lot, some players improved a lot, we worked one month together and this was really important. Now we are a team.”
