Written by Yoo Ji-ho
Seoul, January 16 (Yonhap) — Below South Korea beat Bahrain 3-1 Ahead of the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Asian Cup opening match in Qatar on Monday, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann slammed the match officials for being too happy with the card.
Five South Korean players and two Bahraini players received yellow cards from referee Ma Ning, and coach Klinsmann criticized the Chinese referee for making it a “difficult match.”
“We knew it wouldn’t be easy to play against Bahrain today, but in the end it was a bit of a tight game,” Klinsmann said at the post-match press conference at Doha’s Jassim bin Hamad Stadium. It has become,” he said. “It was a tricky game. It had a lot to do with the Chinese referee giving out too many yellow cards too quickly, so we as coaches had to think through the process.”
The five South Korean players booked include Kim Min-jae, the team’s best defender, and team captain Son Heung-min, who was called out for diving inside Bahrain’s box in the dying minutes of the game. Another defender, Lee Ki-jae, was also given a yellow card, and coach Klinsmann ordered Kim and Lee to be sent off early to prevent him from getting another yellow and being sent off.
Coach Ma warned the three Korean players before 30 minutes had passed.
Klinsmann said of his decision to substitute Kim and Lee in the second half: “Even if they commit a little foul – it’s normal to commit a foul, it’s part of the game – they get sent off. I was worried that it might happen,” he said. “So we had to react to it and be careful. Obviously, in the first game we had too many yellow cards. This is something we have to think about. We also have to do better. I think (the referee) should have done it, but I (the referee) thought it was too easy to play the card and exaggerated it a bit. ”
jeeho@yna.co.kr
(end)