'I never wanted to disrespect anyone' - Roberto Mancini explains why he stormed down tunnel before end of Saudi Arabia's penalty shootout against South Korea in Asian Cup last-16 tie

Saudi Arabia were leading their round of 16 clash against South Korea 1-0 before they conceded a 99th-minute equaliser, and eventually lost 4-2 on penalties after Sami Al-Najei and Abdulrahman Ghareeb had their spot-kicks saved. Mancini was criticized at full-time for abandoning his players before South Korea's winning penalty was taken. The former Manchester City manager has now apologised for his actions, claiming that he thought the game had already ended when Ghareeb missed his penalty.

Speaking after the game, Mancini told reporters: "I apologise [for leaving early], I thought it was finished. I didn't want to disrespect anyone. I want to say thank you to all my players for what they did. They are improving a lot. We as a group, we improved a lot. We've worked for one month together [for the Asian Cup] and this is important."

Abdullah Radif's goal in the 46th minute gave Saudi Arabia the lead in the round-of-16 encounter, but Cho Gue-Sung's stoppage time header forced an additional 30 minutes of action. Mancini was hoping to win his second major international championship as a coach after he guided Italy to victory at the 2021 European Championship, but he will have to wait longer for that dream to come true. It had been suggested that Mancini could step down from his role as Saudi Arabia boss after their Asian Cup exit, but GOAL can confirm he is determined to stay on, with his contract not due to expire until 2027.

South Korea will now be preparing for their quarter-final tie against Australia on Friday, February 2. The other teams that have qualified for the last eight are Tajikistan, Jordan, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Japan, with Iran and Syria set to contest the final last-16 tie of the competition on Wednesday night.