Saudi boss apologies for early exit during Saudi Arabia\u2019s loss to South Korea
\nDOHA
\nRoberto Mancini said he \u201cdidn\u2019t want to disrespect anyone\u201d by disappearing down the tunnel before South Korea took the penalty that eliminated his Saudi Arabia team from the Asian Cup on Tuesday.
\nMancini walked back to the dressing room at Doha\u2019s Education City Stadium after Abdulrahman Ghareeb missed a second Saudi penalty and handed match point to South Korea.
\nWolverhampton Wanderers forward Hwang Hee-chan tucked it away to send the Koreans into a quarter-final against Australia, dumping Mancini\u2019s side out at the last 16.
\n\u201cI apologise, I thought it was finished,\u201d the Italian said of his early exit.
\n\u201cI didn\u2019t want to disrespect anyone,\u201d added Mancini, who won the European Championship with Italy in 2021.
\n\u201cI want to say thank you to all my players for what they did. They are improving a lot.\u201d
\nSecond-choice goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo was the hero for South Korea in the shootout, also saving from Sami Al-Najei to give his team a 4-2 win on penalties, after a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time.
\nCho Gue-sung scored a 99th-minute equaliser in normal time to force extra time, after Abdullah Radif had opened the scoring for the Saudis 33 seconds after coming on as a half-time substitute.
\nSaudi Pro League sides have shelled out to lure big-name players while Saudi Arabia is set to host the 2034 World Cup, all part of a broader move into global sport.
\nMancini took over as Saudi Arabia coach in August but he was unable to lead them to a first Asian Cup since 1996.
\n\u201cI am very happy, I am very sad,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cI am very happy because we improved a lot. We worked one month together and this was really important.
\n\u201cNow we are a team. It\u2019s clear we have to improve more.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saudi boss apologies for early exit during Saudi Arabia\u2019s loss to South Korea DOHA Roberto Mancini said he \u201cdidn\u2019t want to disrespect anyone\u201d by disappearing down the tunnel before South Korea took the penalty that eliminated his Saudi Arabia team from the Asian Cup on Tuesday. Mancini walked back to the dressing room at Doha\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384527,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-384491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n