Then Roberto Mancini left. Perhaps the coach had seen enough in those 120 minutes between Saudi Arabia and South Korea, which ultimately ended in a penalty shootout in which two of Mancini’s Saudi players missed their shots and South Korea needed just one more goal to advance to the Asian Cup quarter-finals . Maybe Mancini didn’t want to see any of that anymore.
Instead, he strolled into the cabin, his tie still neatly tied as always. He walked past his substitutes and his astonished assistant coach Yaya Touré, with whom he had repeatedly gesticulated wildly indignantly during the game. Mancini even left without shaking the hand of South Korea coach Jürgen Klinsmann, the other former Serie A striker who was on the other side at Qatar’s Education City Stadium.
Mancini walked with such purpose, as if he were following some stage direction that the rest of the world knew nothing about. He left as if this were the end of a drama in the Orient – and, who knows, except perhaps Mancini himself: perhaps there is actually an end in sight?
Later, in the press conference, the 59-year-old apologized for this somewhat unique departure in the football world. “I didn’t want to offend anyone, I thought it was over,” said the Italian, who has seen 800 games in his coaching career alone – can you really forget about penalty shootout mode? Mancini tried to save himself, he said, he was “happy and sad” at the same time because his team had been eliminated, but now, after almost a month of preparation and tournament, they had become “a real team.”
It is definitely an ambitious project that Mancini decided on in the desert state of Saudi Arabia, where – viewed from a European perspective – it is primarily about the fascination of the many bills. According to media reports, his contract as head coach of the national team is worth almost 100 million euros; the exact figures are not known, but that is probably irrelevant: Mancini earned enough money, and so last year he had to withdraw from the most prestigious position in his home country under severe circumstances adopted by public criticism; After all, when he left, he also decided not to defend his title with Italy at the European Championships in the summer.
“Mancini’s premature departure from the pitch is unacceptable,” says Yasser Al Misehal
However, it is easy to underestimate the Saudi football culture; it is certainly less driven by a fascination with banknotes – spectators there also measure success in goals and gestures. Mancini quickly realized within his first few months that he would receive more compensation in his new role, but just as much criticism. Before the Asian Cup, he left three well-known players in the squad who didn’t give him enough motivation. The former captain Yasser Al-Qahtani branded him a “disrespectful coward”, and only a successful preliminary round at the tournament ended the debates – which are now resurfacing.
Coach Jürgen Klinsmann (center) congratulates his South Korean national players.
(Photo: Jia Haocheng/Xinhua/Imago)
The farewell in the stadium filled with enthusiastic Saudis even caused criticism from the highest levels. “Mancini’s premature departure from the field is unacceptable,” said Yasser Al Misehal, the president of the Saudi Arabian Football Association and, as such, an influential figure in the country’s new, cash-rich sports world. This is characterized by high expectations, as disillusioned football players like Jordan Henderson, who returned to Europe, have recognized in recent weeks. A highly paid job in Saudi Arabia is not a pleasure trip – Roberto Mancini must have realized this after his premature departure.