Criticism of Roberto Mancini after the Asian Cup exit against South Korea

Roberto Mancini is facing problems as coach of the Saudi national football team after he headed to the locker room before firing the last shot during the loss on penalties to South Korea in the round of 16 of the Asian Cup. The head of the Saudi Football Federation, Yasser Al-Meshal, said that this behavior is “completely unacceptable.”

“We will discuss with him why this happened. Mancini has the right to express his point of view and then we will take appropriate measures,” Al-Meshal told the Saudi SSC channel. Mancini apologized for leaving the field, claiming that he believed “the match was already over.”

Mancini criticizes the players

But this was not the case. Mancini did not see He Chan Hwang's decisive penalty kick. After a 1-1 draw after extra time, Jurgen Klinsmann's South Korea won on penalties 4-2 and will face Australia in the quarter-finals on Friday (4:30pm CET live on DAZN).

Mancini recently complained publicly about the mood of his selected players. Three nominated professionals demanded a guaranteed starting eleven in order to give their approval for the Asian Cup match against Oman. Mancini criticized: “Something like this has never happened to me before.”

Mancini took over as coach of the national team in Saudi Arabia last August and signed a lucrative contract. He therefore abandoned his position in Italy, which he led to the European Championship title in 2021. He was severely criticized for this in his homeland.