It was an early exit from the Asian Cup for the Saudi Arabia coach Roberto Mancini in more ways than one. Perhaps the occasion around the second-round clash with South Korea was all too much and brought back memories of the 2020 European Championship final between his Italy team and England.
The similarities are there: one team 1-0 ahead but dropping deeper and deeper in the second half to invite a late equaliser, then falling to a penalty shootout defeat. This time in Qatar the Italian was on the receiving end and has, like Gareth Southgate, been criticised for sitting back too much. Before Hwang Hee-chan had taken the final penalty to put South Korea into the quarter-finals with a 4-2 shootout win, Mancini started walking down the tunnel. If the initial reaction in Riyadh is anything to go by, he should keep walking.
