South Korea eliminated Saudi Arabia on penalties: Klinsmann passed the test in a thrilling way, Mancini "got into trouble"

The reporter reported that the regular time was tied 1-1, the penalty shootout won 4-2, and South Korea eliminated Saudi Arabia 5-3 to advance to the top 8. Mancini's "famous duel" with Klinsmann ended in a victory for the Germans, who were more lucky. Because of the "unexpected upset" at the end of the group stage, Klinsmann, who was questioned in Japan, finally passed the first hurdle, but the top 8 games ahead, and Australia are waiting for them. And Mancini, who returned to the dressing room early before the penalty shootout was over, may be in danger.

This is the "famous coach duel" that has attracted attention so far in the Asian Cup, Klinsmann and Mancini have played 8 times when he was a player, and Mancini has the upper hand with 5 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. The first meeting was in the opening game of Euro 1988, when West Germany drew 1-1 with Italy, with Roberto Mancini netting but Jurgen Klinsmann playing the full game. From 1989 to 1991, the two played each other five times in Serie A, and Mancini, who played for Sampdoria, scored 2 goals with 4 wins and 1 loss, and was absolutely dominant against Inter's Klinsmann. The last meeting was in 1997 when Lazio's Roberto Mancini beat Klinsmann 3-0 in Sampdoria.

The only time the two have played each other during their coaching years was a warm-up match at Newcastle last September, when South Korea won 1-0. Prior to the Asian Cup, Saudi Arabia was unbeaten in 4 matches against South Korea, 1 win and 3 draws, including a penalty shootout in the 1988 final. Klinsmann has only led the team to the quarter-finals once as a coach, losing 2-1 to Belgium at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In Euro 2021, Mancini's Italian team defeated Austria in the 1/8 finals and finally won the championship.

Before the game, Saudi Arabia defender Timbukti and winger Gharib returned from injury, but striker Ghamdi was absent due to flu. Although Hwang Hee-chan, Kim Jin-so and Lee Kee Di have all recovered from injury, Klinsmann decided to change the line-up from 442 to 343, and the main center Cho Gyu-sung returned to the bench. Kim Young-kwon, Kim Min-jae and Jung Seung-hyun form a back three, with Seo Young-woo and Kim Tae-hwan helping on the flanks, Hwang In-beom and Lee Jae-sung in midfield, and the attacking trident of Jung Woo-young, Son Heung-min and Lee Gang-in. This unprecedented change of formation is Klinsmann's "big bet" on Mancini.

The biggest problem for the Saudi team was the lack of efficiency of the attackers, with Mancini trying different combinations of players, but the goalscorers were unable to find the back of the net. Even in the face of 9-man Kyrgyzstan, it still relies on midfielders to score. Radif squandered chances on all three shots against Thailand and missed a penalty. Al-Shehri had just one shot on goal in three games, while Buraican had zero shots on target. He scored 4 goals in the group stage and tied for 9th in the Asian Cup, and tied for 8th in the round of 16, which is a very embarrassing statistic. South Korea scored eight goals and tied with Japan and Iraq for first place in the group stage, conceding as many as six goals, and tied with Indonesia for the most in the round of 16. This is also the direct reason why Klinsmann took the risk of changing the formation of 343 and adding one central defender to strengthen the defense.

South Korea's 352 was a success in the first half, only the 41st minute was the most thrilling: Saudi Arabia took a corner kick from the left, Shehri and Kanu had headers blocked by the crossbar, and Dausari's third header was cleared by Kim Min-jae. However, Mancini had already seen Al-Shehri's poor form in the first half, and replaced Radif at half-time, catching South Korea off guard at the start of the second half. Daussari splayed a straight ball down the left to the newly introduced Radif who slotted home a one-handed shot. Klinsmann then replaced Jung Woo-young, Lee Jae-sung and Jung Seung-hyun in succession to change the formation to 442, Cho Gyu-sung continued to partner with Son Heung-min in the attack, Xue Young-woo and Kim Tae-hwan returned to the defensive line, Park Yong-woo strengthened the midfield, and Hwang Hee-chan and Hwang In-bum provided more support to the front.

The full-scale recovery of the defense after the goal in the second half became one of the focus of widespread doubts after the game for Mancini. Saudi Arabia goalkeeper Kasar and South Korean goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo were the protagonists of the second half, with the former saving Hwang In-beom's must-have goal and saving six saves to keep Saudi Arabia in the draw.

Cho Gyu-sung, who beat Saudi Arabia at Newcastle last September, finally found his shooting boots against Saudi Arabia again. Although the header hit the crossbar in the second minute of stoppage time, the header equalized in the ninth minute of stoppage time, pulling South Korea back from the brink of elimination. However, in the 108th minute of extra time, Cho Gyu-sung did not shoot the empty goal after Casal's mistake, and after passing to Son Heung-min, the Tottenham star shot on him again, missing the opportunity to kill Saudi Arabia.

The penalty shootout became a performance of South Korean goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo, and he saved three of the four penalties of the Saudi team, and saved the penalties of Najib and Gharib in the third and fourth rounds, and the South Korean team Son Heung-min, Kim Young-kwon, Cho Gyu-sung and Hwang Hee-chan all hit it. Since 1996, South Korea has reached the quarterfinals of eight consecutive Asian Cups. In the 1988 Asian Cup final and the 2000 semi-finals, the South Korean team lost to Saudi Arabia and missed the championship, and this time it was a revenge.

It was also the first time since 1984 that Saudi Arabia had lost five penalty shootouts in the Asian Cup, and after reaching the final in 2007, they have missed out on the last eight of four consecutive Asian Cups. Despite his bad luck twice with the crossbar to block the must-score, Mancini turned and left the pitch back to the dressing room before Hwang scored the final penalty, prompting a backlash from the Saudi media and fans after the game.

Mancini had to apologise and explain that he thought the penalty shoot-out was over, but this abandonment of his team in the moment of victory and defeat and his justification of "thinking it was all over" were even more substandard. Saudi Football Federation President Al-Meshale made it clear after the game that he would activate an accountability mechanism, including discussing Mancini's departure.

Before this game, it was considered the "life-and-death decision" between the two famous coaches, but the relative pressure was more than Klinsmann, who thought that even a loss would not directly affect the coach's position, Mancini, who was afraid that he would have to pay the price for his "unprofessionalism".