Roberto Mancini leaves and apologizes

The words of Roberto Mancini

The Asian Cup of Nations saw the adventure of Roberto Mancini and his Saudi Arabia come to an end in the round of 16. The national team led by the former national team coach had to surrender on penalty kicks against South Korea, coached by Jurgen Klinsmann, after a thrilling match that è was led by Mancini’s team for a long time, starting from 46'of the second half, before conceding the equalizing goal in the dying minutes.

After extra time, penalty kicks proved fatal for Mancini, who left the bench in controversy with the referee and VAR, who did not accept the request for a repeat of the third penalty, scored by Najei, because of an alleged foul by the Korean goalkeeper who moved over the goal line, according to the Saudi bench.

In response to Mancini’s gesture of leaving the field early, the coach said in a press conference: "I apologize for leaving before the end, I thought the match was already over." This "inattention" of his may remind, in an opposite way, of Gigio Donnarumma’s gesture after he parried the decisive penalty in the Euro 2021 final in London.